


I Love You And I Like You

by daddyhader



Series: Parks and Recreation AU [1]
Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti)
Genre: 28 in this, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - No Pennywise (IT), Eddie Kaspbrak Loves Richie Tozier, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Humor, Jealousy, Like, M/M, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, Sexual Content, Sexual Tension, Slow Burn-ish, a lot of it, camping trip, derry carnival, dw if you havent seen the series, eddie as leslie is perfect dont @ me, how does it feel to have superior taste, if you have tho, no beta we die like men, parks and recreation AU, they're like, wanna guess who's sharing with whom, what a shame the b&b only has four bedrooms
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:20:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 23,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23689837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daddyhader/pseuds/daddyhader
Summary: "Due to the crippling gridlock in city council, the big guys are postponing all planning and spending decisions indefinitely.”Eddie stares at Mike. Mike stares back. “Um, until when?”“Indefinitely.”“And when will that end?”, Eddie presses, this time on purpose.“Look, Eddie, apparently we are bordering on a full-blown crisis here. The state government is sending a team from Bangor to try to solve this budget problem.”~Eddie Kaspbrak, one of the most efficient employees Derry's government has ever seen, faces his biggest challenge yet. A visit from the state auditor, Richie Tozier.*Parks and Recreation AU
Relationships: Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh, Bill Denbrough/Audra Phillips, Bill Denbrough/Beverly Marsh, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Patricia Blum Uris/Stanley Uris
Series: Parks and Recreation AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1734028
Comments: 13
Kudos: 27





	1. The Neibolt Project

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi! 
> 
> I've wanted to write something like this for months, because Parks and Rec is one of my absolute favourite series ever, but I always dismissed the thought cause I couldn't really make it work. then, one fine morning during this hellish month, I finally made it work, and I made /this/
> 
> no need to worry if you haven't watched Parks and Rec, I only took some plot points to make my AU work, so even if you haven't watched it you're good
> 
> enjoy :)

Eddie brings his right hand up to his eyes to shield them from the blinding sun, his other hand holding his binder as if his life depended on it. Around him, childern are yelling, racing each other for a seat in the park's rusty swings that creak dangerously loud, their parents chasing after them, also yelling. On his left, in the sandbox, a few kids are eating sand instead of making castles. He pretends he doesn't see the two kids fighting next to the slides.

He feels like he's in heaven.

He notices a man sitting on a bench eating a hotdog, the ketchup from the dog dripping all over his pants. The man either doesn't notice it, or simply doesn't care. Eddie carefully opens his binder and grabs a pen from his backpocket as he approaches the man.

“Hello, sir? Hi. My name is Edward Kaspbrak, I work for the Parks and Recreation department, can I ask you a few questions?”

The man makes no sound, his focus entirely on his hotdog.

“Would you say that you are ''Enjoying yourself and having fun, having a moderate amount of fun and somewhat enjoying yourself, or having no fun and no enjoyment?''

The man looks up at Eddie, stopping mid-bite to stare at him. Eddie stares back, his smile not faltering one bit. “Alright I'm gonna put a lot of fun.”

“Mr. Kaspbrak”, says a boy behind Eddie, sounding out of breath, “there's a drunk stuck in the slide.”

Eddie sighs and follows the kid to the slide, not before grabbing a broom that is leaning on the door of the park's public toilet. He goes to the bottom of the slide and leans to look at the man in question. “Sir, this is a children's slide.”

The man startles and opens one eye. “So?”

Lifting the broom, he tries to shoo the man away, but he refuses to move. “You know,” says Eddie to no one in particular as he walks to the other end of the slide, climbing up the set of steps, “when I first tell people that I work in the government they say _''oh''._ Which is then followed by '' _The government stinks_ '', '' _The government is corrupt_ '', '' _The lines at the DMV are too long_ ''. But you know what _I_ say?''. The man finally gets the memo and slides down, exiting the slide. Eddie straightens his back and leans on the broom in triumph. “It feels _good_ to be needed.”

* * *

Later at City Hall, Mike Hanlon, the director of the Derry Parks and Recreation Department, gathers his employees in the conference room. He thinks that, if they wrap this meeting up by 11, he has a very good chance of sitting in his office all day reading his books and skimming through the pile of travel guides that are neatly stacked on his desk.

It's not like Mike hates his job.

He loves it.

Except he doesn't.

Honestly, he should have no reason for it. His co-workers are his best friends. His job requires minimum attention. He has his own office. And a desk. But that is not what Mike wants. What he wants, is to travel the world, and being stuck in City Hall, working for the government, is not exactly pleasant for him.

“So tonight is our next monthly community outreach public forum”, he tells everyone, not even trying to feign interest.

Eddie freezes. _That is tonight?_ He clears his throat. “And that is tonight.”

“That is tonight”, Mike confirms.

“Right.”

“You will be running it.”

“I will be running it.”

“We need one more person. Who wants in? Audra?”

Audra, Mike's assistant, shrugs, looking even more disinterested in this meeting than her boss. “Sure Mike.”

A few hours later, minutes before the forum starts, Eddie is feeling optimistic. He knows it'll go fine, he has been doing public forums ever since he started working for the Parks department, and that was five years ago. But he also knows that the people of Derry are a bit...behind on their beliefs. And rude. And racist. And homophobic. Every public forum is a brand new challenge to his sanity. And yet he still claims he loves his job.

“Now this, this is great”, he tells Audra. “This is where we show the people that the government actually cares.” He approaches the doors of the auditorium. “Now when I go through these doors, I need to be on. Like the White House Press Secretary. Are we ready?”

Audra looks like she would rather be anywhere else but there. “Sure.”

“Okay. Here we go.” He pushes the door. _It's locked._ “It's locked.” He thinks for a second, and then pulls the door, which opens. “Okay, _here_ we go.”

The, frankly, _huge_ auditorium barely contains thirty people. He walks up to the table in the middle of the stage, smiling broadly as he takes a seat. “Hello, people of Derry! What an amazing turnout. My name is Edward Kaspbrak, I'm the deputy director of the Parks and Recreation Department, and tonight me and my partner, Audra Phillips, are gonna be taking some of your questions as-”

“Last month the government put me in jail!” a man yells as he stands up in fury, pointing at Eddie and Audra accusingly. The crowd does not react. In fact, some of them roll their eyes. “That's right people, chief Bowers is a ninth degree Mason.”

A second citizen, an elderly woman, gets up. “The music from the bar next to my house is so _loud_.”

And then a third, a middle aged, balding man. “Can you stop the graffiti, please? Some of them are really inappropriate.”

Eddie raises his hand in reassurance. “Sir, I don't like obscenities just as much as you don't like them-”

“No, it drives me _crazy._ I have _kids._ ”

“ _These people are members of a community that care about where they live, so what I'm hearing when I'm being yelled at is people caring loudly at me”,_ he recalls himself telling Patty the other day. He's starting to think he's wrong. “Thank you, all of you. We will definitely look into those complaints. Anyone else who would like to contribute?”

A young woman with vibrant red hair gets up from her seat. In the seat next to her, is a man with both his arms broken, struggling to scratch his back, and failing miserably. “Hi, I'm Beverly Marsh. I'm a nurse, and, frankly, I don't really care for politics, but I'm here to talk about the abandoned building on Neibolt Street.”

 _Finally a reasonable reqest,_ Eddie thinks. “Excellent! That sounds like a good idea, tell us about that.”

“Oh no, no no, it's a problem. It almost killed my boyfriend.” She points at the man next to her, who appears to be mesmerized by his fingers, that are half covered by his casts.

Eddie stops in his tracks, his smile slowly fading. “Oh.”

Beverly nods. “Yeah. There's an abandoned building near my house that was the home of a family that has left Derry for twenty years now, and it is ready to collapse. I talked to some people about having it either restored or demolished, but nothing has happened, and that was almost a year ago.”

“Eleven months, yes,” he interrupts, and Beverly shoots him a glare. Eddie clears his throat in visible discomfort. “Go on.”

“Well last week my boyfriend, who is a writer,” she stops for a moment to think, “actually, I support him, but anyway, Bill fell in a hole just outside the house, and broke both his arms. Bottom line is, I've been trying to get this thing fixed for months, and nobody's done anything, and it's ugly, and it's dangerous, and it's government owned, and you need to do something about it.”

It's times like this that remind Eddie why he loves his job. To put it simply, he loves helping people. He straightens his back and gives Beverly a warm smile. “Okay. I'll do something about it.”

Beverly raises an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Yes. I'll help you.”

“Is that a promise?”

“It's more than a promise, it's a pinky-promise.” He turns to address the entire group of people. “I pinky-promise all of you that I will help, and I will go to that location tomorrow, and we will take this house down, and then when that's done, we're gonna put a park on the land.”

Beverly seems satisfied with that. “Okay then.”

The following morning, Stan is once again hanging out at the Parks department instead of his office up on the 6th floor, and Patty is working on her computer, the clicking of her fingers hitting their keyboards and their occasional chatting the only sounds that fill the room. Patty occasionally takes a sip from her coffee, and Stan rolls his eyes every now and then while reading reports, marvelling at the stupidity of some people in City Hall. He is trying really hard to focus on them instead of glimpsing at Patty, who is also doing a very poor job pretending she's not staring at him. Everything looks peaceful and calm.

Their peace and quiet is violently interrupted by Eddie, who enters the office energised to the max from the three coffees he has already drank. He claps his hands once to get their attention. “Okay guys, let's brainstorm. How do we make the Neibolt park happen?”

“Let's go to the city council directly and ask them to put the money”, Patty suggests.

Eddie shakes his head. “Hm, no, parks are not a priority. I need more firepower, I need bigger guns.” He paces up and down in front of Stan's desk, until he gets an idea. He snaps his fingers. “You know what I need to do? Form a _committee_. Right?”

“Pfft, yeah, that will work.”

Stan's sarcasm escapes Eddie, who is too deep in thought. “Yeah, because committees are power, and committees make things happen. Committees are the lifeblood of our democratic system. Oh that's really good, write that down”, he tells Stan, who begrudgingly gets a piece of paper and a pen. “I love it when I can hear my own quotes. Okay, read that back to me.”

Stan clears his throat. “Committees cover our democracy with blood.”

“Hmm. Sounded better when I said it.” He shrugs. “It's good though.”

Patty raises her head. “Okay, I have an idea. How about we bring Myra on board?”

Both Eddie and Stan groan loudly. “Can we please avoid that?”, asks Eddie. “Our break-up was terrible. I'd rather not go through that experience again, thank you.”

Patty insists. “But if you want something done in this town, you call Myra because, you know, she's a city planner, but she's more than that.”

“Yeah, she is also annoying”, says Eddie, getting a high five from Stan and a dissaproving glare from Patty. He visibly deflates. “Fine”, he grumbles. “I'll let her know.”

Patty gives him a smile as she continues typing on her computer. “Thank you Eddie.”

“You could call her right now”, Stan points out with a small grin, clearly wanting front-row tickets to the ' _Eddie argues with his ex-girlfriend for 30 minutes straight_ ' show.

Eddie makes a series of incoherent sounds that roughly translate to “ _I would rather get eaten by a Great White than call Myra_ ”, but reluctantly pulls out his phone. "Remind me to never talk to you two again." He dials Myra's number as slowly as he can, silently psyching himself up for what's coming. _You can do this Eddie. You can do this. It's just Myra. Just Myra. She's alright. No, she's not alright, what am I doing-”_

'Eddie-bear?'

“Hey, Myra”, he scrunches his eyes in disgust, both by the nickname and by hearing how strained his voice sounds. “How are you on this fine morning?”

'Oh Eddie-bear I am _fantastic._ You know, just the other day I ran into Mr. Keene-'

“Listen, Myra, unfortunately I don't have a lot of time, but we're taking on this new project, and since you're a city planner, we need your help”, he rushes out. He is not wishing she says no. He is _not._

'Anything for you, Eddie.'

 _Damn._ “Okay, so, you know that abandoned house on Neibolt Street?”

Myra lets out a gasp. _Oh boy, here we go,_ he thinks.

'Eddie, that house is a wreck. It's ready to collapse.'

“I know, Myra, I know. But I made a promise. I'm turning it into a park.”

'But Eddie, you know how fragile your health is-'

“My health is perfectly fine, Myra-”

'And that house is full of diseases-'

“We'll get it disinfected first. Obviously.”

'Well, what about your asthma? I'm sure all that dust in that house will be terrible-'

Eddie rubs his temple, in a futile attempt to prevent his growing headache. “Look, Myra, do you want to help or not?”

'Of couse I do, Eddie. I absolutely do. Getting to do my last project before I get transferred with you, of all people-'

Eddie's attention is immediately back on Myra's words. “Wait what? You're being transferred?” He mentally slaps himself for sounding excited about it. “Where?”

'Oh, you know, Bangor. I'm leaving next month. Look, Eddie-bear, I know we didn't end our relationship on the best terms, but this could be an opportunity for us to make amends!'

Eddie shivers at the thought of what Myra means by '' _making amends_ ''. He takes one look at Stan and Patty, who are barely trying to conceal their laughter, and focuses on Myra just as her rambling comes to an end. “Alright Myra, see you on Thursday.”

Eddie ends the call and rolls his eyes at Stan and Patty, who are wheezing. “You guys are assholes.”

* * *

Beverly doesn't know why, but she trusts Eddie. Not the government though, just Eddie. She can tell just by looking at him that he is determined, willing to do anything to make people appreciate their town a bit more.

It's what she tries to do every day.

She thinks, as she fluffs the pillows on her couch, that her and Eddie might just become very good friends.

“Hey babe, do you think I should put a werewolf on the cover, or a vampire?”

She looks at Bill, who is holding a printed photo of his book cover on each casted hand, werewolf on the right, vampire on the left. “What's the book about?”

“Vampires.”

“Then put the vampire on the cover, Bill.”

“Oh yeah, smart move.” Bill sits on the couch that Beverly just made, arms splayed over the back of the couch.

“Honey, can you straighten up your area a little bit? They're gonna be here soon”, tries Beverly, but Bill isn't listening, too engrossed on the covers. “Bill?”

“Huh?”

“That parks guy is coming over, we're gonna go look at the house.”

Bill definitely hadn't forgotten about that. “Oh, yeah. Well, honestly? I think it's a waste of time. I mean, I don't think anybody in the government actually cares about Derry.”

“Well”, says Beverly as the doorbell rings, “we'll see.” She hopes Bill is wrong. On her doorstep she finds Eddie, in a hazmat suit, Audra, and another guy she doesn't recall seeing. “Hi! You're in a hazmat suit!”

Eddie grins proudly. “I am! Safety first. I told these guys to also put theirs on, but they just don't care about their wellbeing. You remember Audra, from the forum. And this”, he points to the guy on his left, who gives a court nod, “is City Hall's accountant, Stanley Uris. He will be documenting our fact-finding mission.”

“Lovely. Let me just grab my phone."

“Hey guys!”, Bill shouts from the couch, waving an arm. “I'm Bill!”

“Hi, Bill. I'm Eddie. I just want to let you know we will do everything we can to help you.”

Bill already loves this guy. “Thank you, Eddie. I appreceate it.”

Beverly emerges from her room, grabbing her bag. “Shall we?”

Eddie has never been at the Neibolt Street house, so he had no idea what to expect. Now that he sees it for the first time, he sure is at a loss for words.

Actually, not really. He thinks this place is hideous.

“I know,” says Beverly as they enter the yard through a hole in the wires, “it's horrible.”

“That's one word for it”, says Stan, careful not to touch anything.

Audra thinks it's the coolest thing she has ever seen.

“So, Bill entered through this hole. He was crossing through to get home, and then he fell”, she points at an old-looking shallow well, “right there.”

Eddie shuts his eyes and grabs Beverly's hand. “Dream with me for a second, Beverly.”

“Call me Bev.”

“Bev. Doesn't this neighborhood deserve a first class park? Just imagine a shiny new playground with a jungle gym and swings, pool, tennis courts, volleyball courts, basketball courts, a football field. We could put an amphitheatre over here with Shakespear in the Park.”

“It's really not that big of a yard.”

“Not the point, Stan.” He takes a few more steps to inspect the yard, and then he begins walking backwards to be able to look at Bev. “It's gonna take a little extra work, but why not try?”

Bev gives him a warm smile. “I think that would be great.” When she notices Eddie nearing the edge of the well, it's too late. “Eddie!”

It doesn't take them long to get Eddie out of the well, but it's past noon when he returns at City Hall, sans hazmat suit, with a travel pillow to support his aching neck.

He is fairly sure Mike will let him form a subcommittee for the Neibolt project. He knows he will be getting this thing going in no time.

“No.”

“Mike, please.”

“No. No way.”

“But Mike,” tries Eddie while attempting to sit down without irritating his bruised hip, and failing, “give it a shot. Let me have Neibolt.”

Mike refuses to budge. “Is that a travel pillow around your neck?”

Fine, Mike doesn't want to do this the easy way. “Mikey, I don't know how to explain this to you. When you've been down in that well... Have you been in the well?”

“I have not.”

“Well I have.”

“When you fell.”

“When I visited the bottom of the well on a fact-finding mission”, Eddie insists. “You see things from a different perspective about what it all means. And what it means is, I want this subcommittee.”

Mike sighs. “Eddie. You know I would rather be anywhere else in the world rather than stuck in a humid, low-lit, fucking government-owned piece of crap building that we call City Hall, right?”

“Right.”

“I'd say that most people here lost their optimism about government in about two months since they joined. Somehow, you have managed to keep yours for five years.”

“This is exactly why I want this park, Mike. I stay optimistic because of all the good things we have done for this shitty town and its shitty people. I know they don't owe us shit, but I don't care. I love this town, and I love my job, and I want this park.”

Mike knows he has lost. You would think that after five years of being friends with Eddie, he would have found a way to resist his puppy eyes, but he has not. “Fine. You can have Neibolt.”

And Eddie nearly screams.

* * *

It's been less than three weeks since Eddie got permission for the Neibolt project, and he already feels drained.

“Eddie, I have to say, you might be taking this to the public a little bit too soon with your subcommittee.”

He tries to ignore Myra and focus on the stack of papers in front of him. Partly because he knows arguing with her is pointless, and partly because he knows that it literally doesn't matter what you propose to the public. In the end, they accept everything.

“Myra, this committee is important. I don't want to see any more citizens get hurt in that house.” He clicks his pen and gets up, motioning for Myra to follow him into Mike's office. “Mike, is it okay if I have a public forum tomorrow night? I've already talked to some people around the city and I got a pretty positive response for the park.”

“Sure thing, Eddie.”

“Great, thanks boss.”

Just as Myra opens her mouth to talk, and no doubt invite Eddie for lunch, Beverly enters the main office as they exit Mike's, two cups of coffee in her hands. “Hey, Eddie! Are you busy? I thought maybe we could hang out, talk about the park a bit.”

Eddie could kiss Beverly right now. He turns to Myra with what he hopes is an apologetic look. “Sorry, Myra, I have to go. Thanks for your help today.”

Later, when the two of them have found a more quiet place to sit, Beverly asks Eddie about Myra.

Eddie smiles into his cup. “She's my ex-girlfriend. She used to lie to me about my allergies and pressure me about every little thing I did. For almost three years."

Bev is glad she wasn't drinking at that moment. “What the hell, Eddie!”

Eddie sighs with a half-hearted smile. “Yeah, Actually, and this is the weirdest part, my mom sort of did the same thing when I was a kid.” He sees the look of sympathy in her eyes and laughs. “It doesn't matter anymore. I'm free from both of them. And also gay. It's been a weird year. So, how's Bill?”

Beverly scoffs. “Great. Everything is great. Totally fine." Eddie suspects there is more to it, so he lets Bev continue. "Bill was supposed to take his casts off last week.”

“Oh shit. Why didn't he?”

“Because he enjoys me pampering him.” She sighs and slowly sips her coffee. “You know, we've been together for two years. At first, things were great. He was sweet, and caring, and he would always make me feel great, you know? But now, it's like all we do is fight.”

Eddie wants to give Beverly a really tight hug. The tightest he can possibly give her. He also kind of wants to punch Bill. “What do you think you're gonna do?”

“Honestly, no clue.”

“Well, whatever you decide to do, I'm here for you.”

Bev has never been more grateful in her life. She takes Eddie's hand and smiles. “Thank you. And not just for that. This past month you've been nothing but supportive. Honestly, at first I didn't think anyone in government was going to reach out to us. But you've already done so much. I love being your friend.”

Eddie decides that Bev deserves the world. He hopes she knows it.

* * *

The rest of the week flies by. Eddie manages to get a positive vote from the public, his project recives some moderate media coverage, and he gets the support of one of the zoning officials. He feels great.

His great mood is shattered to pieces a few moments later, when Mike emerges from his office, an unsual frown on his face. “Guys, I'm afraid I have some bad news.” He waits until everybody has gathered around him, and then he continues. “Eddie, I know you have your budget presentation ready for the meeting tomorrow, but there's a slight change of plans. Due to the crippling gridlock in city council, the big guys are postponing all planning and spending decisions indefinitely.”

Eddie stares at Mike. Mike stares back. “Um, until when?”

“Indefinitely.”

“And when will that end?”, Eddie presses, this time on purpose.

“Look, Eddie, apparently we are bordering on a full-blown crisis here. The state government is sending a team from Bangor to try to solve this budget problem.”

“What about the Neibolt project?”

“I'm afraid it will also be getting postponed.”

“But I promised Bev. Mike, I _pinky_ promised her I would get it demolished.”

“Just calm down Eddie-”

“ _Calm down?_ ”

“You don't even know what they're gonna do.”

“Mike, they're state auditors. They're not gonna come and pat us on the back, they're here to fucking slash and burn.”

Stan shrugs. “I'd be fine with that.”

Eddie's shoulders drop in defeat. “Wow, Stan.”

“This government is diseased. It's like a big, ugly, infected slob spending money it doesn't have on crap it doesn't need”, Stan tries to reason.

“That's what the government does, Stan, it provides services.” Eddie's face shows determination. “They're gonna try to eliminate everything we do. We gotta fight these guys.”

Mike rubs the bridge of his nose in defeat. “They've been sent by the government, Eddie, they outrank everyone here. We really don't have to fight them.”

Eddie knows that, deep down. He knows that there is probably nothing he can do to save their department. But he'll be damned if he doesn't at least try. “Yeah, you're right. I'm not gonna fight them.” His eyes spark. “Except that I _am._ ”

Mike instantly moves from his place and goes behind Eddie, putting his hands on his shoulders. “ _Eddie._ What do we do when we get this angry?”

Eddie relaxes under Mike's peacefull presence. He sighs. “We take deep breaths and we focus on the good stuff we've accomplished.”

“Alright then. Go do that in your office”, he turns Eddie around and gently pushes him towards the door on his left.

“Go do it in _your_ office”, Eddie mutters under his breath.

“And we'll wait for these guys to show up”, continues Mike, unbothered by Eddie.

“I'll wait for _you_ to show up”, mutters Eddie and closes the door of his office, taking a deep breath to relax.

* * *

During the rest of the week, the tension in the department is high. Everyone dreads the visit from the auditors, and they don't mind showing it.

Stan on the other hand, has other things on his mind. On Thursday, during lunchtime, he enters the office and is glad to see that everybody but Audra has gone outside. "Hey, Audra?"

She doesn't lift her eyes from her magazine. "What's up, Stan?"

Stan approaches her desk and sits down, looking around to make sure no one else is there. "So, um, I have a question."

"Shoot."

"Let's say", Stan starts, his voice quiet, "hypothetically speaking, that I wanted to ask someone out. Like, on a date."

"Uh-huh."

"Right. So", struggles Stan, "how do I...do that?"

Audra puts her magazine down to take a proper look at Stan. "You want to ask Patty out."

"Keep your voice down", Stan whisper-yells. "Fine. I want to ask Patty on a date. How do I do it?"

"Well", Audra says, "if I were you, I would go up to her desk, and simply ask her to go to the movies with me."

Stan stares at her. "Just that?"

"What did you expect? Look", she gets up and goes behind Stan's chair, putting her hands on his shoulders, "Patty likes you. Like, a lot. All you have to do is ask her out. She'll say yes whatever way you ask her."

Stan sighs and gets up. "Right. Thanks Audra."

"Buh-bye Stan", she waves at him with a smile. _Dumbasses,_ she thinks, and goes back to her magazine.

Mike enters the office just as Stan exits, brows furrowed. "Hey Stan, why don't you stay here? And, Audra?"

"Yes?"

"Tell everybody to get inside. Gretta just called, the auditors are on their way up."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you've watched Parks and Rec you may notice that some of this is actual dialog from the series, and the reason for that is that I wanted to get the premise out there before I got creative with it, ya know? but also because some lines are way too iconic to not include.  
> if you haven't watched it, what are you doing
> 
> sidenote: I cannot even begin to explain how excited I am for the special episode that will be dropping today!!!!!!! man, every single main character will be there, all my faves together for one more time AHH I can't wait to watch it
> 
> anyways, I hope you liked it, kudos and comments are appreciated <3


	2. The Master Plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was supposed to go up later on during this week but I just couldn't wait.
> 
> ALSO did y'all watch the special ep?? because I did and let me tell you,,,,,I bawled my freaking eyes out, it was SO DAMN GOOD and lowkey I was expecting that lil thing at the end but STILL it got me so bad and I got so emotional and yeah I missed them
> 
> enjoy xx

If you were to ask Eddie a week ago how he felt about the auditors coming, he would have gone into full panic mode. Even the thought of his department being diminished, or even removed would have made his blood boil. If it hadn't been for Beverly talking some sense into him, he would have exploded.

As he walks inside the office, he can honestly say he feels alright.

The rest of his coworkers beg to differ.

"Shoot, they're gonna fire people, aren't they?", says Patty, lightly gripping Stan's hand, making both of them blush.

"I can't get fired", says Audra. "Seriously, you guys I _cannot_ get fired."

"I hope they remove the department completely", deadpans Mike as he sips on his coffee, earning a smirk from Stan and a whine from Patty.

"Guys, relax", tries Eddie. "Maybe these people are very helpful and pleasant." He gives everybody a reassuring smile and turns to look at the front door that just opened.

Instead of 'very helpful' and 'pleasant', Eddie sees 'creepy' and 'one step away from death's door' as a grey-haired, wrinkly man enters, with a much younger woman by his side. "Hello?"

Eddie shrieks and takes a step back. "AH! Death!"

"Divorce filings?", asks the man.

"F-fourth floor", Eddie stutters.

Two tall men enter next, one in a fitting navy suit with matching tie, the other in probably the most obnoxiously loud shirt Eddie has ever seen, holding two folders each. The man in the suit approaches them and speaks first, his voice deep and calming. "Hi, how are you? My name is Ben Hanscom, and this is my partner, Richie."

Richie flashes them all a grin. "What's up, losers?"

Mike shakes hands with both of them. "Welcome to Derry's Parks and Recreation department. I'm Mike Hanlon, director, and this is Eddie Kaspbrak, deputy director. Over there are Audra Phillips and Patricia Blum."

"Oh, wow. Don't sound so excited, man", Richie remarks.

"Oh, I can assure you he _is_ excited", says Stan, extending his hand for a handshake. "Hi, Stanley Uris, City Hall accountant. Would you guys like a tour?"

"Now _that_ is a good idea", says Richie, turning to his right. "Benny, can we get a tour?"

Ben checks his watch. "Maybe later, Richie. Let me just say a couple of things, first." He clears his throat. "As you all probably know, we are sent here from the state budget office from Bangor. What this means is, we're going to tinker with your budget to make sure this place achieves, but also maintains a healthy economy."

Eddie lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding. _Okay,_ he thinks, _crisis averted._

Ben gives them all a warm smile, and turns to Richie. "How about you stay here and have a chat with everyone?"

Based on his general attitude so far, Eddie is sure Richie will complain, very loudly, and demand to join the tour. To his surprise, Richie simply nods. "Sure thing, Benjamin."

Eddie watches as Ben leaves with Stan, the two already deep in conversation, until he feels someone tapping his shoulder. "Mr. Tozier wants to talk to us", says Mike, and points to his office where Richie has already sat, waiting for them.

As the two enter the office, Richie tears his gaze away from his folders to look at Eddie. “I like your shirt”, he tells him with a wink, smirking at Eddie's eyeroll. “So, let's do this”, he says as he pushes his glasses up his nose, taking a more professional stance. “How about you two tell me where you think there's waste within your department.”

Mike and Eddie speak at the same time.

"Where do I even start."

"There is none."

Eddie leans forward in his seat. “What exactly will you be cutting? And where-”

“What can you tell me about...”, Richie interrupts, looking inside his folder, “...Particia Blum?”

“She is one of the best people on the planet", Eddie says. "She is universally adored here. If you fire her, there will be a revolt.”

Richie laughs, but quickly turns serious again. “Okay, Eds-”

“Not my name.”

“ _Eds”_ , he presses, “you need to understand that, just to keep this town afloat, we probably have to cut the budget of every department by 40 or 50%.”

Eddie's mouth drops. “But Ben said that you just had to, you know, _tinker_ with things.”

“Yeah, he said that because it sounds a lot better than 'we're going to gut it with a machete'. Okay?”

Eddie stares at him, rage bubbling in his veins. “You're a jerk.”

" _Eddie_ ", Mike warns him.

Richie looks up from his folder, confused at Eddie's sudden burst. “I'm sorry?”

“These are real people, in a real town, working in a real building, with real feelings-”

“This building has feelings?”

“Maybe it does!", Eddie shouts. "There's a lot of history in this one. How can you be so fucking blasé about this?”

“Because you see, Eds, I didn't cause these problems. Your government did.”

Eddie is aware his coworkers are looking at them through the glass panels at the wall, but he doesn't care. "Okay, listen here, dickhead. I don't know who you think you are, but this department is as important as any other department in this building. You may think you're not affecting anyone with your decisions, but you do. We're a family, and we care for each other, and I don't want your actions, or anyone's actions for that matter, affect my family. You understand?"

"Okay, first of all, stop yelling-"

" _I am not yelling!"_

"Yes, you are!"

Fine, Richie is right, he _is_ yelling. And he has a damn good reason for it. He cares for this department more than anyone else ever has, or ever will.

Eddie is ready to reply to him, when Richie gets up and closes his folders. "I'll get what I need from the spreadsheets. Thanks." Richie exits the office, leaving Eddie and Mike to look at the empty seat.

Eddie's blood is boiling. "What the _fuck._ "

Later that day, Beverly enters the Parks department, half heartedly greeting Patty and Audra. "Is Eddie here?"

"He's in his office", Patty tells her, "but I wouldn't go in there if I were you."

Bev raises an eyebrow. "Why? Is he okay?"

"Some state auditors came today, they're gonna slash our budget and Eddie is really upset", Audra explains.

"I see", says Bev, skeptical. "Whatever, I'll risk it. I have to talk to him."

"Good luck", Audra wishes her.

Bev knocks on Eddie's door, and hears a deep and, frankly, concerning sigh come from inside. She opens the door and sees Eddie with his head on his desk. "Eddie?", she asks tentatively, "are you okay?"

Honestly, Eddie doesn't know if he's okay. He makes a distressed sound and bangs his head on the desk.

"I'll take that as a no then." Bev approaches the desk. "The girls told me what happened. Is there anything I can do to help?"

Eddie slowly lifts his head from the desk. "Distract me. Please. Tell me anything."

"Well", Bev sits down and sighs, "Bill and I broke up."

Eddie is not surprised. Him and Bev had been talking about it all week, and he wholeheartedly agreed with Bev's decision. "How did it go?"

"Better than I expected. He told me he knew it was coming, sooner or later. He knew our relationship wasn't the same, he just didn't want to believe it."

Eddie gives her a sympathetic look. "That's actually kinda sweet.

"Yeah."

"Well, I'm here if you need to talk", Eddie says as he takes her hand. "Or, you know, if you need me to find you someone else. I know some great guys here at City Hall. Hey, do you want me to punch Bill? I can do that, too."

Bev laughs, full of gratitude for Eddie. "Thanks, but no thanks. I think I'll take some time to focus on my self. More Bev-time, less guy-time. Wanna go get a drink?"

"Hell yeah", says Eddie as he gets up and grabs his jacket. "Oh, that reminds me, are you coming to Audra's party on Sunday?"

"Of course. Wouldn't miss it."

As they exit Eddie's office, they get the feeling that there has been a weird shift in the room's vibe. The atmosphere is heavy, but in a _good_ way? Eddie is confused. He looks around, and is not surprised to see Stan in his usual place, leaning on Patty's desk, both of them sporting some serious heart eyes. He shoots Audra a questioning glance, and she signals for Eddie and Bev to come near her, a finger on her lips. “Look at them,” she half-whispers, “they went on a date yesterday and now all they do is gaze into each other's eyes. I mean, they don't even talk, they just _stare_. It's weird.”

“It's about time, if you're asking me”, Eddie whispers back and smiles as he observes his two friends finally acting on their feelings for each other. "Okay, let's go."

* * *

Eddie doesn't hate clubs, but he doesn't love them either. He enjoys the music and the drinking, but dancing is not really his thing. Which is why him and Bev are by the bar, ordering shots after wishing Audra for her birthday.

"I'm telling you, Bev, he's a nightmare", Eddie says, grimacing as he takes a shot. "I've never seen a government employee that is so goddamn annoying. It's like he winds me up on purpose every time he sees me."

Bev takes a shot and coughs. "What did Richie do now?"

"He came up with nicknames for everyone. Wanna know what mine is?"

"Sure."

" _Spaghetti."_

Bev starts chuckling as she downs another shot. "Oh, that's brilliant. Now I want to meet him even more."

"Don't laugh at my pain, Bev", Eddie whines and looks at his friends having a blast on the dancefloor. His gaze then falls on a guy talking to Mike. "Shit." He turns to Bev. "Hey, don't freak out, but Bill is here."

"Eddie, I'm fine", Bev reassures him. "I'm over him, don't worry."

Eddie nods and takes a shot. He's still wincing when he hears a loud cackle from somewhere behind him. "I know that laugh", he mumbles. He turns and, what do you know, Richie is looking at him from his spot. A grin appears on Richie's face and he approaches Eddie and Bev. "Hey, spagheds. Fancy seeing you here."

Eddie rolls his eyes. "It's Audra's party, asshole. I was invited. What are _you_ doing here?"

Richie shrugs nonchalantly. "Dear sweet Audra invited me and Ben yesterday." He turns to Bev. "I didn't know Molly Ringwald likes hanging out in dingy old clubs in Derry."

"Shut up, asshole", Eddie cuts in, but Bev puts a hand up, grinning. "It's fine, Eddie. I'm guessing you're Richie?"

Richie's eyes widen. "Eddie! You've told your friends about me? Little ol' me? How sweet of you."

"Only because I complain about you to my best friend on a daily basis, fucknut", Eddie mumbles.

Bev extends her hand. "Beverly Marsh. Ignore Eddie, he's grumpy."

"Anyways", Richie says, "I'm glad I ran into you Eds. I know we got off on the wrong foot, so I wanna-"

"Save it", Eddie interrupts him. "Okay? Just, leave. No one wants you here. You're annoying, and unprofessional. Plus", Eddie slurs, the alcohol getting to him, "I talked to everyone here, and nobody likes you."

Richie chuckles. "Everyone? That must've taken a while."

"It did. You're a cold, careless person, and I hate you. So, leave."

Richie frowns. "But-"

"Leave!"

"Alright! I'll leave ya! Jeez!", Richie concedes. "Miss Ringwald", he says, turning to Bev, "it was a pleasure."

As soon as Richie is out of their sight, Bev turns to Eddie. "Honey", she grabs his hand, "that was _so_ professional."

"I know", says Eddie and downs two shots. "Come on, drink up."

On the other side of the club, Mike is feeling miserable. On his left, Stan and Patty are chatting quietly. They seem lost in each other's eyes, and Mike decides not to bother them. He lost Audra about an hour ago, and now he's nursing his drink, alone. He thinks about heading home, when he feels someone tap his shoulder. "Hey, are you Mike Hanlon?"

Mike turns, and sees an unfamiliar guy in a flannel shirt. "Yeah. Who are you?"

The guy extends his hand. "Bill Denbrough. I'm Beverly's ex boyfriend."

"Oh, yeah", Mike says, "I've heard about you. You're a writer, aren't you?"

Bill sighs as he sits next to Mike. "Kind of. All my books have flopped. But", he smirks, "this new one I'm writing is going to be a hit, man. I just know it."

"I'm sure it'll be great, man", Mike tells him.

Bill hesitates for a second before he speaks. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"Well", Bill shifts uncomfortably in his seat, "I was wondering if there are any open positions in City Hall, because I kinda need a job. I'll do anything, man, I could be a shoe shiner if you want."

Mike cackles. "You don't have to become a shoe shiner, Bill." He thinks for a moment, and then turns to Bill. "One of our administrators quit last month, and we still haven't found a replacement. You interested?"

"Hell yeah", Bill exclaims. "Thank you so much, Mike. You won't regret this. I'm gonna get us some drinks." As he approaches the bar, he bumps into Audra. "Oh, sorry," he says and stares at Audra, thinking she looks beautiful in her black dress. "I, uh, didn't see you there."

"It's fine", Audra says, "it's my birthday, so you're excused."

"Oh, you're Audra? Hi, I'm Bill Denbrough. I just got a job at City Hall. I guess that makes us colleagues now", he says with a nervous smile.

Audra gives him a once-over. "Sweet", she deadpans. "See you tomorrow, colleague."

Bill stares at her after she leaves, not moving at all. _Wow,_ he thinks.

* * *

The next morning, Eddie enters his office sporting a mind-numbing headache, wondering how the hell did he let himself drink that much. He is so out of it, he doesn't even notice Bev, curled up in a chair with a jacket thrown over her, her eyes bloodshot. She looks up when Eddie enters, and throws of the jacket. "You have to help me."

Bev's voice drills through Eddie's head. "Ow."

"I know, me too. And everybody else. But you really have to help me."

"What happened?"

"I think I may have made out with someone last night", she admitts.

Eddie momentarily forgets about his headache. "So _that's_ where you were when I lost you. With _whom_?"

"I don't remember." She gets up, almost loses her balance and sits down again. "I don't even know if it happened. I just woke up with a weird feeling, you know?"

"Oh, wow."

Before Eddie's hangover brain can start thinking of guys that Bev could have made out with, Mike's face pops from the corner, brows furrowed. "Eddie, my office. Now."

"That's loud", Bev points out. "Why is he angry?"

Eddie knows Mike has a pretty good reason to be angry, but he really hopes that Mike knows him well enough to not scold him at 7:30, while hangover. "Dunno", he says instead as he gets up, feeling his stomach churn at the sudden movement. He follows Mike into his office and shuts the door behind him, wincing at the loud bang it makes. He rubs his temple and sits down. "Hey, Mikey. What's up?"

Mike, despite also drinking last night, seems perfectly fine and quite proud about it, the smug bastard. "Had a good night last night?", he asks with a smirk.

"Mhmm. Yup. Perfect night."

"I see", he says, getting more serious. "Did you enjoy your second unnecessarily loud conversation with Richie?"

 _"You're_ unnecessarily loud", Eddie mutters and looks up at Mike.

"You do know he's holding your fate in his hands, right?"

"You know what?", starts Eddie, rasing his voice and immediately regretting it, "I think he deserved it. He's an asshole."

"So _what?_ You've dealt with plenty of assholes in the past. How is this one different? Listen, Eddie, I want this government cut to the bone. But," he raises his hand before Eddie can speak, "I can't have you getting yourself fired. Go apologise to him."

Eddie can't say he didn't see it coming. Of course Mike wants him to apologise, but he doesn't _get_ it. "No. I don't have anything to apologise for. All I did was express myself."

"Forcefully", Mike adds. "And drunkedly."

"Alright, _fine_ ", Eddie concedes, only to get Mike to stop yelling at him, "I'll go apologize."

Eddie drags himself to Richie and Ben's temporary office on the other side of the room. He knocks on the half-opened door before he enters, and is warmly greeted by Ben. "Hello, Eddie. What brings you here so early?"

"I'm- uh, I'm here to speak to Richie."

At the mention of his name, Richie's head pops from the corner of his side of the office. "Hiya there, Eds."

Eddie rolls his eyes at the nickname and tentatively approaches Richie's desk. 'Don't _be mean to him, don't be mean to him, he holds your fate in his hands like a tiny bird.'_

Ben gets his jacket from his chair and grabs a folder. "He's all yours. Just, try not to kill each other. See you later, trashmouth."

Eddie waits until Ben leaves, and then sits. "So, I'd like to apologise for yesterday."

Richie shrugs. "Don't worry about it."

"No, what I did was out of line", Eddie presses. "Twice. And I was worked up because obviously, you are a threat to my department-"

"Whoa there champ", Richie interrupts him. "Your City Council and your Mayor are the actual threats to your department, dude. Not me."

"Okay, _dude_ ," Eddie mocks him, "I don't like your attitude."

Richie smirks. "Oh, really?", he asks, challenging Eddie.

"Really. You may be in charge of my fate, and my department's fate, but I think you're a major asshole."

Richie takes a moment to properly look at the man in front of him as he continues to yell at him. He estimates Eddie is about two seconds away from a nervous breakdown, and decides to do something to change that. "You want to get a beer?"

Eddie stops mid-rant to look at Richie, confused. "What?"

"Wanna go get a beer?"

"It's nine in the morning."

Richie nods as he puts on his denim jacket. "I know. You look like you need a beer."

Eddie doesn't know why, but he follows Richie to the bar they were the previous night which, unsurprisingly for Derry, is open at nine in the morning. They sit next to each other as they order their beers and sit in silence, until Richie speaks. "Oh, while we're here." He raises his hand, motioning for the bartender to come over. "Hi, I need to settle my bill from last night. Richie Tozier."

"Oh, wow", the bartender muses as she gets a piece of paper from the counter, "you had _forty-three_ drinks last night?" She checks the bill. "Ten cosmos, eight Smirnoff Ices and everything else starts with the word pomegranate. Was it your bachelorette party?"

"Ha ha, very funny", says Richie as he gets his wallet out. "If you must know, I bought drinks to a bunch of girls and some guys here last night, and they all put them on my tab." He sighs as he gives the money to the bartender. "And then I went home alone. Not sure how that happened. I thought me being bi would mean I get twice the dates, not none at all."

"So, let me get this straight", says Eddie, amused to the bone, "you bought drinks to a bunch of people here, and you tried to hit on all of them?"

Richie shrugs, a smirk on his face. "Fair enough."

"I mean, what were you expecting to happen, a forty-three-way?"

"That would have been a little bit out of control- but awesome." He looks over at Eddie, who's twisting his mouth in an attempt not to laugh. Richie wants to change that. "Problem is, I only have fifteen penises, so that would have been-", he looks up, doing the math in his head, "-a bunch of people that would be really upset with me." He smiles as he sees Eddie's body shake with laughter, and then he starts laughing too.

It takes a few minutes, but eventually their laughter is reduced to occasional giggles. Eddie then remembers why he's there in the first place. "Look", he starts, taking a more serious expression, "I'm sorry I yelled at you. All three times. But I don't think you know anything about my department. Have you ever been part of a government body before?"

Richie smirks, looking down at his beer. He pauses for a moment, hesitating. _Eh, might as well,_ he thinks. "Yeah, I have. Small town called Monroe, Ohio."

Eddie scrunches his face. "Wait, that sounds familiar." He takes a moment to inspect Richie's face. His hair is a mess of dark curls that frame his face, his deep blue eyes hidden behind his too thick black-rimmed glasses that are perched on his thin, long nose. His jawline is sharp, prominent, his teeth slightly crooked. Eddie thinks he's sort of beautiful, in a weird, out-of-the-ordinary way. But at the same time, he looks very, very familiar.

And then, Eddie remembers something that Ben said.

"Wait, Ben called you trashmouth. You're- are you _Trashmouth Tozier?"_

Richie gives him a flashy grin. "In the flesh, baby."

"Holy shit! I've read all about you. You were elected mayor of Monroe when you were eighteen, and then you ran-". Eddie stops abruptly, looking at Richie with uncertainty.

Richie playfully rolls his eyes. "Go on, you can make fun of me."

"You, um, you ran the place to the ground in two months and got impeached", Eddie mumbles.

"Yup", Richie says, taking a long swig from his beer. "Turns out, eighteen-year-olds are fucking idiots. Who would have thought?" He very much enjoys the giggle he gets from Eddie. "The worst part was, my parents fucking grounded me."

"That sucks", exclaims Eddie. "Is that why you're balancing budgets now?"

"Basically, yeah. It was the only way to show people I could be responsible. So I can run for office again someday and not be laughed at. You know." Eddie raises an eyebrow. "I mean, you want to run for office someday, right?"

Eddie smiles softly. He's never told anyone, but running for office has been his dream since he was a little kid. "Yeah. How did you know?"

Richie shrugs. "I just do. But you have to be able to make decisions like this, Eddie. You have to be fucking harsh. No one's gonna elect you to do anything if you don't show you're responsible."

Richie's words surprise Eddie in a good way. "I guess you're right. But for me, it's just a dream, you know? A fantasy."

Richie shakes his head. "Nuh-uh, don't say that. I mean, I've only known you for, what, a week? I can see that you're passionate about what you do. You like helping people, anyway you can. You have determination, and you're so fucking stubborn. I'm sure you're gonna do great things."

Eddie blushes lightly and looks down at his beer, avoiding Richie's gaze. "Thanks, man."

"So", Richie says, "tell me about yourself. How did you end up working for the government?"

"Well", Eddie says, "I always liked helping people. Initially, I wanted to become a psychologist, until one day, when I was in college, I got an internship at City Hall. I worked there for three months, and I saw how good it felt to offer services to the public. So, a year later, after many fights with my mom, and a lot of self-discovery on my side, I applied for city administrator. That was five years ago." He looks at Richie, surprised to see he's giving him his full attention.

"So your mom didn't want you to work for the government?", Richie asks.

Eddie sighs. "Honestly? It's kind of a long story, and I definitely don't share it with people I've known for less than a week", he starts, and puts his hand up when he sees Richie open his mouth. "It's okay. I want to tell you." He takes a deep breath and continues. "When I was younger, my mom used to give me fake pills. She had convinced me I was sick, that I was fragile and prone to diseases. One day, I figured out she had been lying to me, and I yelled at her. Like, a lot. Since then, I started doing what I wanted, and she started disagreeing with everything I do. Including me working at City Hall, and me being gay."

"Holy shit, Eds", Richie exclaims. "You're so fucking strong, what the hell."

Eddie shakes his head. "I'm really not."

"No, you are", Richie insists. "You've been through hell, and you still see good in people. That's fucking amazing."

Eddie smiles at his words. "Thanks, Richie. And I'm really sorry for yelling at you. You didn't deserve it. You're a good guy."

"Thanks, man. Now", says Richie as he gets up, "how about you show me around the town?"

Eddie hops off his stool and grabs his jacket. "Of course."

* * *

After a long night of brainstorming and the consumption of a weeks coffee, Eddie is fairly sure he has come up with a pretty solid financial plan to save his department. He feels confident as he waits outside Ben and Richie's office in the morning, binder in hand, Beverly on his side for support, and Mike opposite him.

When the door opens, he hears two gasps. One comes from Bev, the other comes from Ben.

"H-hey", Bev says, totally flustered, "uh, you're-"

"Yeah", Ben says, blushing profusely. "Uh, hi. Beverly. You- uh, you doing okay?"

Bev shifts uncomfortably, a hint of a smile on her face. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine."

Eddie's gaze shifts between the two. _Oh,_ he realises, _Ben is the guy Bev kissed._ When Ben calls for him and Mike to get in, he turns to Bev. "We'll talk later?", he whispers knowingly.

"Yeah", Bev whispers back. "Good luck."

Eddie and Mike greet Richie, and take their seats. "So", Eddie says as he opens his binder, "my suggested plan reduces our overall budget by 35%. And it contains very practical, deep cuts in many of our services."

"Wow, Eddie", says Ben, "this is amazing. But...it's not enough."

"What? Why?"

"Our investigation has revealed that things in Derry are much worse than we anticipated", says Ben.

"Meaning what?", asks Mike.

"Well", starts Richie as he sits down, "effective tomorrow morning, the entire government will be shutting down until further notice." He looks down and then back at Eddie, and mouths a quiet ' _I'm sorry_ '.

Everyone turns to look at Eddie, who is staring at Richie and Ben, his eyes void of any emotion. Mike shoves his elbow in his side, taking him out of his trance. "Oh, I'm sorry, I just started hearing really loud circus music in my head. The government will _what?"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so here you have another mammoth of a chapter. i try to cut the chapters pretty evenly, amd accordingly to the plot, but let me know if you'd like them to be smaller, I guess that can be arranged. but lemme say a couple things
> 
> 1\. I actually considered making Bill a shoe-shiner like Andy, but it didn't really fit the plot or Bill's character, so I had to settle for an administrator, like Tom was. I love Andy's goofy personality tho, and Chris Pratt is (or used to be) great. I strongly advise y'all to watch Chris's bloopers, and ESPECIALLY the comeback blooper. I cry with laughter every time I watch it.
> 
> 2\. I also considered portraying Myra as Tammy II, Ron's ex-wife, but again, it didn't really fit with the plot. if you have any suggestions as to how I could incorporate Tammy in here, let me know
> 
> 3\. I wanna say a big thank you to everyone who has read this so far, given kudos or commented, it means the world❤
> 
> toodles x


	3. Eddie Spaghetti

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Freddy Spaghetti is by far one of my favorite episodes, and I really enjoyed writing this chapter, even tho it was a bit of a nightmare.
> 
> ps: updates may be a bit wonky from now on, because on June 15th I have my finals, and since I'm a senior they kinda determine whether I get into college or not, which means I have to focus on revisions. So, I apologise in advance if I don't post for like two weeks. I'll try to write ahead as much as I can but I can't promise anything <3
> 
> enjoy xx

On his first day of work in City Hall, Bill enters the building with a coffee in his hand and a broad smile on his face. He looks around, and finds the building suspiciously empty. He goes to the second floor, and briefly thinks he's in the wrong building, until Mike comes out of his office. “Mikey!”

Mike lifts his gaze from the stack of papers in his hands, not entirely sure why Bill is there. “Uh, hi Bill?"

“It's quiet in here. Where is everybody?”

Mike shoots him a funny look. “The government is shutting down. It's in every newspaper. The building is now open only for essential personnel."

Bill nods, his attention half on Mike and half on Audra, who is typing on her computer on the opposite office. “Right, right. How long is it going to last?”

“Well, if we're lucky, this building will be empty for months.”

Bill looks back at Mike. “Aw that sucks. I just finished a draft of my newest book, and I wanted your opinion on it." He goes up to Mike and wraps an arm around his shoulders. "I really think th-this is the one, Mike. This will be the book that makes me a world famous author. Or, you know, I hope it is. I kinda need the money right now.” He notices Audra leaving, and decides to follow her. “Well, I gotta go, talk to you later.”

Mike nods, confused about their interaction. “Alright, see you.” _What a weird guy_ , he thinks.

The first thing Eddie does after he learns that the government is shutting down, is to hold a public forum. The least he can do before his job is put on hold for the rest of the summer, is to inform the public.

And of course, Richie insists he holds it with him.

"Richie, I've told you a million fucking times, I can do it by myself. I don't need you there with me", says Eddie as he walks up to the door of the auditorium, three binders in his arms.

"Eds", Richie insists, "I may have only been here for a short amount of time, but I couldn't help but notice that the people of Derry are _kinda_ crazy. Inevitably, one of them will say the wrong thing and you will lose your shit. Who's going to prevent you from commiting mass murder then?"

Eddie sighs, giving up because _of course_ Richie is right, Derry citizens are fucking nuts. "You, I suppose?"

"That's right", says Richie proudly and opens the door to the auditorium. Once again, it's devastatingly under filled. They both take their places, and Eddie taps the mic. "Hello, people of Derry. I'm afraid I have some bad news. As of next week, the government will be temporarily shut down. Which means, all parks are closed until further notice."

The crowd groans loudly, and several people start talking to each other. Eddie puts a hand up to quieten them down. "I assure you, no one is more upset about this than me. Not that it's a competition or anything." _If it were, I'd win,_ he thinks.

"How long will they be closed?", asks a woman.

"Could be forever", Richie jokes, receiving a glare from Eddie.

"With the government shut down, who's going to stop Al-Qaeda?", a man asks.

Richie brings a hand to his mouth to muffle his laughter, which turns into a cry of pain as Eddie shoves his elbow on his side. "One thing at a time, sir", Eddie says.

"Well, what about the kids concert tonight at Bassey park?", says another woman, pointing at her kid next to her.

"Oh yeah", her husband says, "the Freddy Spaghetti concert."

Eddie's blood runs cold. How could he forget about the Freddy Spaghetti concert? He glances at Richie, who looks _fucking delighted_ for some reason, and then turns back to the audience. "I'm afraid the Freddy Sp-" _Oh,_ he thinks, _spaghetti. Wonderful._ He clears his throat and continues. "The Freddy Spaghetti concert has been cancelled."

The crowd groans, and Eddie sinks into his chair. _I_ _gotta talk to Ben_ , he thinks.

It's lunchtime back in City Hall, and the department is almost empty, since everyone prefers having lunch outside when the weather gets warmer.

Everyone, except Ben.

Ben is pacing up and down in his office, phone in hand, Beverly's number dialled, his finger hovering over the 'call' button. Every time he convinces himself to press it he chickens out, rubbing a hand on his face. _Come on Ben,_ he thinks, trying to psych himself up, _you can call her. Just press the damn button. What's the worst thing that can happen?_

 _She could answer,_ his brain supplies. _Or worst, she could decline_. He shakes his head. "Shut up", he mumbles. "Shut up and just do it."

"Do what?", says a voice from the door. A really familiar voice. Ben turns around and sees Beverly leaning on the door frame, smirking.

"Oh", Ben says, flustered, "uh, n-nothing. I was just- it's nothing."

"Alright then", Bev says, stepping into the office. "Do you know where Eddie is? I had some free time and thought I could take him to lunch, but I can't find him."

Ben manages to regain his composure and puts his phone in his pocket. "He's in a public forum with Richie. They didn't say what time they would be back."

"Oh", Bev says, "that's fine. Thanks." She turns to leave, but thinks again. "Hey, are you busy?"

Ben shakes his head. "Not particularly."

Bev's eyes light up. "Great! Wanna go get some lunch? I feel like we should get to know each other a bit better. I don't want for things to be weird between us just because I kissed you."

Ben's cheeks heat up, and he nods shyly. "I'd love to. We could go to that new place on Main Street. My treat," he adds as he puts on his jacket.

"Fine by me", says Bev with a smile as they head outside. Before they can go far, Eddie and Richie enter the department. "Hey!", Bev says, "me and Ben are going to get lunch, is that cool?"

"Yeah, it's fine", Eddie says. "Before you leave, Ben, can I talk to you?"

"Sure", Ben says and turns to Bev. "I won't be long."

"I'll wait", Bev reassures him.

"Ben, we have a problem", Eddie says as he drags Richie into the office as well, closing the door behind him. "There was a kids concert for today, and now there's not. Is there anything we can do about it?"

Ben sighs. "Unfortunately, there's not. All parks are closed, and all park related activities are cancelled. I'm sorry."

"But Ben", Eddie insists, "think about all those disappointed kids. How am I supposed to tell them that their favourite performer is not gonna come because the government shut down our parks? It's going to break their little hearts."

"Well, Eds", Richie says, "you have to. I've told you, it's not our fault. We just want to do our job."

Eddie scoffs. "Yeah, you've made your apathy towards this town and its citizens pretty clear, Richie."

"You know I'm right," Richie says, "just admit it."

"There's nothing to admit. You're wrong. Guys," Eddie pleads, "think this through."

"No can do, Eds. Derry is broke as fuck. There's no money for a concert. I mean, Idaho cut their Parks Department by 80%, and Idaho is basically one giant park."

Eddie feels an overwhelming urge to strangle Richie. "I've said it before and I'll say it again, Richie, Derry is better than Idaho."

Richie shakes his head. "Nope. Derry is _not_ special, okay? Your little department all the way at the bottom of the government chain is not a priority, Eds."

"Don't _fucking_ call me Eds, fuckface-"

"Guys," Ben tries, "let's just relax. Eddie, I'm really sorry but there is no other option. The concert is cancelled. Now, excuse me, I have to go."

Eddie folds his arms across his chest and watches as Ben leaves, brows furrowed. Richie walks up to him and stands on his left, head tilted. "You're cute when you pout."

Eddie rolls his eyes. "I'm not pouting."

"Yes, you are."

"I hate you", Eddie says and exits, leaving Richie alone, smiling to himself.

* * *

"I mean, can you believe this guy?"

Bev, who has been patiently listening to Eddie rant about Richie for at least forty-five minutes now while drinking coffee on her porch, really wants to disagree. "Oh, yeah. He sounds like a total asshole. My lunch with Ben was _great,_ by the way."

Eddie sighs, sitting down next to Bev. He knows she's not really mad at him, but be can't help but feel guilty. "Bev, I'm sorry, I've been talking non-stop. I'm glad it went okay with Ben, he's a great guy. ButI _hate_ Richie. I hate him and his stupid, ugly shirts. Yesterday, he came in the office in a fucking shirt with tiny Squidwards printed, Bev. _Fucking Squidwards._ Why would anyone over the age of ten wear _anything_ Spongebob related. And why the fuck can't he dress like a normal fucking person. And what the fuck is wrong with his hair? It looks like a wet mop. Has he ever heard of hair product? Maybe a fucking _gel?_ Oh my God, Bev, he does these fucking impressions, and he thinks he is _so good_ at them. He's _terrible_. Okay, maybe his Tom Cruise impression is kinda spot on, but the rest are crap. Just like him."

"Eddie", says Bev, ever the observer, "I don't mean to interrupt your fifth tantrum of the week, but you seem to talk an awful lot about a guy you claim to despise."

Eddie stops mid-sip to look at Bev. "Yeah, it's cause I can't fucking stand him. He insists on calling me fucking _spaghetti_ , even though he knows I hate it. He was fucking delighted when he heard the concert was for Freddy Spaghetti."

"I think that's cute."

"I think it's awful," Eddie retorts. "He has no boundaries, he's unprofessional and a fucking menace."

Bev smirks knowingly. "Sure, honey. Whatever you say."

Eddie sighs and leans back on his chair. "I can't stand this government shutdown. I can't stand the budget crisis. But what I can't stand even more is that they're cancelling Freddy Spaghetti."

"I think you need a hobby to relax", Bev suggests. "Why don't you try going out on a date? I have plenty of guys at work I could set you up with."

Eddie sighs again and closes his eyes. "Thanks, Bev. But the only man I care about right now is six feet tall with wild, crazy hair and a ukulele that doubles as a water gun."

Bev shoots him a concerned look.

"Freddy Spaghetti", Eddie clarifies.

Bev gently pats Eddie's shoulder in sympathy, when suddenly she gets an idea. "Wait. If the parks are closed, why not just have the concert in the backyard of the house behind mine?"

Eddie's mouth drops, and his eyes begin to sparkle with excitement from the potential this idea has. "Beverly Marsh, you are a goddamn genius!" He gets up and takes his phone out, sending various texts to his coworkers. "We need to get to work. We need all hands on deck."

* * *

One and a half hour later, Eddie can honestly say him and Bev have made some significant progress. They managed to spread the word about the concert, they cleaned up the backyard, and they contacted local vendors for equipment and food. Only thing left to do is to make sure everybody is happy and has a great time.

He glances at his watch that says 7:09, and frowns. "I told them to be here by 7:00. We still have things to do." He turns to Bev. "Do you think anybody's going to show up?" Beverly opens her mouth to answer, but gets cut off by Eddie, who continues rambling. "A, yes. B, even if they don't, we'll just put the concert ourselves." He stops pacing. "But C, yes, they're definitely gonna show up. Although, D, maybe not."

When the door knocks, both of them jump.

"Hello?"

"Patty! Audra! Bev, Patty and Audra are here!"

"I see them, Eddie", says Bev, amused.

Eddie ushers them inside. "Audra, I have to be honest, I didn't think you were going to help."

"I still might not", says Audra.

"Stan is getting the things you asked for. He'll be here in a bit", says Patty.

"We also told Bill", says Audra. "You said you needed all hands on deck so we thought he could help."

Eddie feels immense gratitude for his friends. "That's amazing, thank you. Now, let's get to work."

Back in City Hall, Mike is patiently listening to Ben and Richie explaining their budget plan. He is vaguely aware that Eddie is up to something, but he chooses not to worry about it. After all, he trusts Eddie.

"So", Ben says, "with current and projected deficits, we need to cut expenditures by 39%"

"Let's make it an even 50", suggests Mike.

"That's not necessary," Richie says.

"We could sell City Hall", Mike offers. "Turn it into a DMV or something."

"While that's a fucking great idea", Richie remarks, "we don't want to sell any of our major assets, because we don't want to lose out on any future revenue streams."

"I hear you, but how about-", he's interrupted by his phone ringing. "Don't cut anything without me," he warns them and goes outside to pick it up. "Eddie?"

"Mike, you know I love you, right?"

Mike immediately knows Eddie is up to something that could potentially go extremely wrong. "Eddie, what did you do?"

"I don't care that you hate our job. I love it enough for both of us." He hears Eddie pause and then take a deep breath. "We're going to do the Freddy Spaghetti concert tonight, at 8:00, in the backyard of the house in Neibolt."

"Eddie, you can't do that."

"Watch me. We're doing this, Mikey. With or without you", Eddie says and hangs up.

Mike stares at his home screen for a moment and sighs, knowing there's not much to do to change Eddie's mind. He goes back inside and sits down. "So, where were we?"

Richie grabs a folder and starts pacing up and down. "Okay, let's talk about Parks and Rec. This one is a little complicated."

"But thanks to you and Eddie", continues Ben, "the services budget has already been cut significantly."

"So", says Richie, "seems like our best option is job cuts." He grabs another file from his desk. "Starting with...Eddie Kaspbrak."

Mike's expression shifts to one of concern. "No. No, no, no. If you fire Eddie, you might as well get rid of the whole department."

"Look", says Richie, "I know how valuable he is, believe me. But we've run out of options. He makes the second highest salary in the department."

"Yeah, but because I hate my job, Eddie also does like, 95% of the work." Mike's face then lights up as he gets an idea. "You should lay me off! I mean, you _could_ lay me off? Just a thought. I don't mind being a casualty in such a righteous war."

"It's precisely because of this attitude that we want to keep you", Ben says. "You would maintain responsibility after we're gone."

"I strongly object."

"Mike, every department is losing an Eddie Kaspbrak."

" _No, Richie,_ no other department has one to begin with. Right now, he's single-handedly putting up some lousy concert for this town's kids-"

Richie snaps his head to look at Mike. "He's doing _what?"_

* * *

In a short amount of time, Eddie and everyone else manage to set up everything for the concert. Eddie will admit the venue is not ideal, but his main goal, which was to prevent the concert from getting cancelled, has been achieved. So, he considers this a victory.

It's fifteen minutes before the concert is set to begin, and some parents along with their kids have already started coming. Stan is standing in the entrance, welcoming everyone, and Patty leads them to the front of their makeshift stage. Audra's duty is to manage the food stands, and Bill is preoccupied with the very important task of annoying Audra.

"...and so the protagonist's best friend, I call him Joe, he's a weird guy. I mean, he looks like a regular guy, but he has a dark secret-"

"Oh my god!", exclaims Audra, exasperated. "Do you ever shut up?"

"Rarely", Bill jokes, making Audra roll her eyes. He circles the stand and goes next to her. "I'm sorry. I know I talk too much, but I really enjoy talking to you."

Audra sighs. "It's okay. I mean, you _are_ annoying, but you're a pretty interesting guy."

"Why thank you", Bill says, doing a small bow. He briefly thinks about whether he should ask Audra out, when he hears a noise from the front of the yard, near the well. He turns to Audra, who's also looking for the source of the noise. "You heard that?"

Audra walks behind Bill and towards the hole in the wired fence around the house, and she spots Mike running frantically towards the house, yelling incoherently. By the time Mike reaches the fence, Eddie is also approaching, curious about the noise. "What the-"

"They're coming! Eddie, they're coming! They're-" is all Mike manages to say before he slips and falls.

"Mike!", Eddie shrieks as he helps him get up, "are you okay?"

Mike dusts off his jacket, trying to catch his breath. "Eddie, I'm sorry. The auditors are coming. I accidentally told them about the concert while trying to prevent them from firing people." Eddie gives him a questioning look, and Mike realises how weird he sounds. "It's been a rough day."

Right then, Eddie hears a car park outside the lot. He sees Richie and Ben approach, and he turns to Mike. "It's okay, don't worry. I got this", he says and walks towards the two. "Hi, guys. What brings you two here?", he says, trying to sound nonchalant.

Richie approaches him first. "You know very well why we're here, Eddie."

Ben comes to stand next to him, and he takes his sunglasses off. "We're shutting this down. The concert is cancelled."

"Okay, _excuse me,"_ says Eddie, fuming, "we're putting it on, okay? The stage is already built, everything was donated for free by local vendors. Everyone here believes that what we're doing is important. So, Freddie Spaghetti _will_ sing."

"Actually, Eddie", says Stan as he approaches, "I just found out. Freddy Spaghetti is not coming."

Eddie wants to punch the smirk out of Richie's face. "Alright. Freddie Spaghetti may not sing. But something way cooler will happen", he says and stomps away. He enters the house and goes straight to the kitchen, the only room in the house that is not in a near-collapse state. He pulls up a chair and puts his brain to work.

A couple minutes go by, and he comes up with a big fat _nothing_. He has zero ideas, no clue about how to save the concert, how to not let the kids down.

He's so deep in thought that he doesn't hear the kitchen door open behind him.

"Hey", Richie says quietly, not wanting to startle him. He points at the chair next to Eddie. "Can I sit?"

Eddie simply shrugs and continues staring emptily at the distance.

"Look", Richie starts as he sits down, "I don't want to sound like a jerk, but maybe you should consider cancelling the concert after all."

"No", Eddie says. "I'm not giving up."

Richie sighs. "I figured. Which is why I came here to suggest something else."

"I appreciate it, Rich, but you can't help me", says Eddie, giving Richie a melancholic smile.

Richie gives him a boastful smirk instead. "Well..."

Eddie raises an eyebrow. "What?"

Richie pauses, weighing his options. "If I tell you, will you stop being an asshole to me?"

"I'll stop being an asshole to you when you stop acting like a jerk", says Eddie impatiently. "Now, spit it out."

"I could- and it's just a thought but hear me out- play the guitar and sing a couple songs for the kids."

Eddie simply stares at Richie, considering his offer.

After several seconds of silence, the children's laughter from outside the house the only thing interrupting it, Richie's expression falters. "Or not, you know, it's not a big deal, I'm sure you don't want me here, plus my voice is not even that good-"

"Okay."

Richie stops mid ramble. "Okay?"

Eddie nods repeatedly as he quickly gets up and heads for the door. "Okay. Yeah. You can play a few songs. But make sure they're appropriate for kids."

Richie follows Eddie outside, a big grin on his face. "Eddie, baby, I promise I will not let you down."

* * *

All in all, the concert was a success.

The children loved Richie who, surprisingly chose some sensible songs to play for them. Towards the end of the show, he even played some songs for the adults, on their request, and did some of his Voices, making both the children and the adults laugh hard.

Eddie approaches Richie just as he's putting the guitar back in the case. He waits until he's done, and then decides to speak. "Why did you do it?"

Richie looks up as he slings the case on his shoulder. "Well, I'm not a monster. I wanted the kids to have their concert."

"Huh," Eddie muses, "you have a soft spot after all."

Richie nods and starts walking towards his car. "Yeah. Plus, I know how important this was for you. Hey, want me to drop you at your place?"

"If you don't mind", says Eddie. He stops Richie from walking further with a hand on his arm. "Thank you. I mean it", he says sincerely. "You didn't have to do this."

"I wanted to do it", Richie reassures him, and they begin walking again.

They walk in silence for a few seconds, until Richie speaks. "Eds, this was great, but there's going to be a lot of pain ahead. We have to cut-"

"Can you stop?", Eddie interrupts him.

"What?"

"Just, stop. For a moment. Enjoy the fact that you provided a service for people, not a cut."

Richie smiles at Eddie. "You're right, spaghetti."

"Not my name, asshole."

"By the way", says Richie as he puts the guitar in the trunk, "you never told me what your relationship with Freddy is. Is he your cousin or something?"

"Oh my god, just shut up", says Eddie, trying really hard not to laugh.

"Maybe he's your brother", suggests Richie as he opens the door, and then he fakes a loud gasp as both of them get inside. "Eddie, is that guy your _husband_?"

And Eddie can't hold it anymore. He bursts out in laughter, making Richie laugh as well as they drive towards Eddie's house.

* * *

"So are you two friends, now?"

Eddie rolls his eyes at Bev. It's two days after the concert, and four days since the government shut down, so naturally, Eddie uses his tons of extra free time to visit Bev at the hospital during her shift. "I've been talking for half an hour, and that's what you focused on?" He takes a sip from his coffee and shrugs. "We're not friends, I just don't hate him as much as I did before. But still, he could have been nicer about it." He thinks for a moment and adds "at least Ben was nice."

At the mention of Ben's name, Bev blushes, which Eddie notices immediately. "Bev?", he asks, smirking, "is there something you wanna share with the rest of the class?"

"No!", she shrieks. "Why would I-, I don't-, no!"

Eddie's mouth opens in surprise. "Bev! You have a crush on Ben!"

"No I don't!"

"Yes you do!"

"I hate you."

Eddie shakes his head. "Nuh-uh, you love me. And, apparently, you love Ben, too!"

Bev covers her face with her hands. "Oh my god, you're so annoying. Please don't tell Ben."

Eddie pats her back and smiles at her. "Don't worry. I won't." He looks down at his hands, and speaks again. "Do you think the department will be okay?"

"I do", Bev reassures him, "I really do. You guys are strong, and you'll get through this."

And, of course, Bev's words help Eddie relax because, after all, she's absolutely right.

They'll get through this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> like, what are the freaking odds that the actual concert in parks and rec is for Freddy Spaghetti??
> 
> on a completely unrelated note, I started watching Joana Ceddia on yt and, wow, she is my new role model. I binge watched her videos and one is more chaotic than the other lmao I love her
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter, kudos and comments are always appreciated <3


	4. The Derry Carnival

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear I try not to make the chapters more than 5,000 words each, but somehow this one came close to 12,000
> 
> I'm kinda proud of this one though, even though it took ages to write. also, I really tried to make this as funny as possible, so I haven't really included any heavy topics that are in the movies or the book.
> 
> enjoy x

**3 months later**

The moment Eddie's alarm goes off at 6:15am on Monday, September 5th, he eagerly jumps out of bed, barely able to contain his excitement. He presses the coffee machine button and hops in the shower as he plans the day ahead, smiling at the thought of returning to his favorite place in Derry- City Hall.

After his shower, he doesn't bother with putting gel in his hair like he used to, choosing to blow dry it instead. It's gotten longer and slightly curlier at the ends, since he actually listened to Richie, who said it suits him that way. He brushes his teeth, he gets dressed in a clean light blue shirt and grey pants, and goes to the kitchen.

He grabs an apple from the fridge, double washes it, and then checks his phone. He got three messages while in the shower- two from Bev and one from Richie. He doesn't think twice before he opens Richie's first.

**Richie**

**6:30** happy first day back at work, spaghetti ;)

Despite the annoying nickname Richie has been using almost every day for the past three months, the message makes him smile as he bites his apple. He quickly sends Richie a reply as he puts some coffee in a thermos, and opens Bev's messages.

**Bev**

**6:24** good luck on your first day back at school <3

 **6:24** be nice to the other kids and respect your teachers

He sends Bev a middle finger emoji, followed by two heart emojis, and grabs his jacket, his bag and his keys, and jumps in his car, heading to the first house on the list he made yesterday, which is Mike's.

Mike, naturally, is still asleep. Eddie impatiently rings his bell an absurd amount of times and he still doesn't wake up so, like any other normal person, he decides to break into his house. He turns the doorknob, knowing that Mike usually leaves the door unlocked _(seriously, Mike, you know how dangerous that is?),_ and enters the quiet house, ready to interrupt Mike's slumber. He opens the creaking bedroom door and clears his throat. "Mike! Wake up!"

Mike jumps and struggles to turn around to look at the source of the shout, getting tangled in his covers. He sees Eddie and groans loudly, his head falling back on his pillow. "Eddie? What the _fuck_?"

"Good morning to you, too, Mike", says Eddie as he opens the curtains, the sunlight blinding Mike, who grunts, tucking himself further. "I'm not going back there", he hears Mike say, voice muffled by his blanket.

"Come _on_ ", Eddie starts to pull the covers off of Mike, who tries to pull them back, "stop being such a baby. Get up and get ready, we have to pick up everyone else, too."

Mike reluctantly gets up and gets ready, while Eddie makes him a cup of coffee. He can, and will admit he was _not_ looking forward to going back to work. These three months were, without a doubt, the best vacation of his life. He took a small trip to Bangor to visit his family, he spent a few days in Augusta, and then he spent a week touring Massachusetts, all without worrying about forums, conferences or budget cuts. It was _delightful._

"Mike, come on", says Eddie a few minutes later as he fastens his seatbelt, "don't tell me you weren't looking forward to this day."

"I really wasn't."

Eddie scoffs and smirks. "So you didn't miss us, then?"

Mike sighs, because _damn it,_ of course he missed his friends. "I did", he admits. "It's nice to see you, Eddie."

"It's nice to see you, too, Mikey", says Eddie, satisfied. A few minutes later they reach Patty's house, then Bill's, and finally, Audra's. By the time they reach City Hall, it's almost 8 o'clock.

Eddie is the first one to get out of the car. He looks at the building with adoration, and steps inside. He is immediately hit with the smell of ink and paper, a smell he has grown to love during his five years of working here. He looks around, and begrudgingly notices how understaffed they are, meaning the government either fired people, or just hasn't called everybody in yet.

He hopes it's the latter.

When they get up to their floor, they see Ben and Richie already waiting for them. Richie lights up as soon as he sees Eddie march in. "Spaghetti! Long time no see."

"You literally saw me yesterday, dumbass."

"Hey, guys", Ben excitedly greets them once they all get inside, "It's so nice to see you all again. Unfortunately, we sort of have some bad news."

"Sadly, guys, your only work for the time being will be existing park maintenance", says Richie.

"Nope," Eddie says, shaking his head as everyone but Mike groans, "that's not gonna happen. See, I spent the entire summer brainstorming ideas. I can't just put them on the shelf and sit here all day doing nothing."

"I know", says Richie, "and I'm sorry. It's only a temporary thing. You'll be back in action in no time."

Eddie doubts it.

"So, are you happy to be back at work?"

Eddie scoffs at Bev's question. They've been strolling through City Hall for a few minutes now, after Eddie called Bev to tell her the news, and since Bev has a day off, she offered to bring him food from JJ's, his favorite diner in Derry.

"Yeah, I am. Besides the fact that Stan and Patty are finally dating, not much has changed around here. I mean, our budget has been slashed to zero. I tried to buy fertilizer for the soccer field today, and my request was denied. I mean, it's fucking _fertilizer_. We literally can't buy _shit_."

Bev shoots him a look full of sympathy. "I'm sorry. You really don't deserve it."

Eddie sighs deeply. As they walk, his gaze falls on the big murals on the walls that depict various time periods of Derry's history. "You know what saddens me the most?", he tells Bev. "Remember when we were kids, and the Parks Department would do these big projects? The annual Easter Egg Hunt, the Derry Carnival... And now, it's like they don't have faith in us anymore." He turns to look at Bev. "I'm not a paper pusher."

"I know you're not", Bev reassures him.

"I need to be out there, you know? Out in the action."

"I'm sure you'll be back in no time," Bev says. "You've done so much for Derry, more than anybody else has ever done. You can't give up now."

Eddie nods solemnly as he drinks the last of his coffee and throws the cup away. "Thank you," he tells Bev. "I really needed the company. And the food. You're the best."

"So are you", Bev tells him. "Don't let this get you down, Eddie. You deserve the world."

Eddie gives Bev a smile and heads to his office, thinking he might as well do some paperwork during his newfound free time. He pulls out a handful of binders and folders, and gets to work.

A few minutes later, there's a knock on his door. "Come in."

"Hey," Bill says, entering his office. "You busy?"

"Not really," Eddie says, pushing his papers aside. "What's up?"

"Remember when I told you I would ask Audra out? Well, I got my answer before I even asked", Bill says half heartedly as he sits down. "I saw her on a date with some guy yesterday."

"Shit," Eddie says. "She didn't tell me she's seeing someone. I'm sorry, Bill, I would've told you if I knew."

Bill sighs. "It's fine, don't worry. What do I do now, Eddie?"

"Well", starts Eddie, "when your back's against the wall and odds are stacked against you, you just..." he trails off, getting lost in his thoughts.

He thinks about himself, the day he finally stood up to his mother. He thinks about the day he finished his first Parks project, after months of hard work. He thinks about the three months he spent away from work, away from his favorite place in Derry.

He thinks about Beverly's words.

He thinks about all the things he could do in the future.

Sure, quitting is always an option.

But why quit when you can try harder? When you can push yourself to do your best, to prove everyone wrong. Eddie thinks about the situation he's in, about how close he came, and still is, to saying goodbye to something he loves, something he's so damn good at. He has seen and been a part of this department's highs and lows, he has made friends in this department, he has grown as a person.

He will be damned if he just stands aside as it all gets destroyed.

"You...you swing the hardest, damn it!" He locks eyes with Bill. "You- you go big, or you go home. You don't seem like the kind of guy who goes home. And neither do I." He gets up and motions for Bill to follow him.

They go to the department's open space, where his coworkers plus Richie, Ben and Stan are having lunch, and clears his throat to get their attention. "Guys, I have an idea about how we can save the Parks department. Follow me."

Everyone abandons their lunch and follows Eddie to the third floor. He stands beneath a mural depicting something that looks like a festival, and points at it. Everyone, besides Richie and Ben, immediately understand what Eddie is suggesting.

"The Derry Carnival", Mike says fondly. "Eddie, that's a brilliant idea."

"Excuse me", Ben says, "what's the Derry Carnival?"

"It's what our department needs to stay alive", Eddie says and turns to look at Ben and Richie. "I realize that times are tough and the budget is tight", he says, "but I refuse to let this department die. Now, Derry is historically known for two things. A higher disappearing rate than most cities which, frankly, is concerning, and the annual Derry Carnival. People from all over Maine would come and enjoy the rides and the food. We lost that festival a few years ago, due to another round of budget cuts, and I propose we bring the carnival back. With ticket sales and corporate sponsorship, we'll earn all that money back. And believe me", he tells Richie and Ben, "people _will come._ "

Richie can't hide his admiration for Eddie. His eyes are glued to him, absorbing every word Eddie so passionately utters. And Richie thinks the idea is brilliant, he truly does. But, he has to ask. "What if they don't?"

"Then", Eddie says, surprisingly calm, looking at his coworkers who are all smiling at him, "then, fuck it, you eliminate the Parks department."

Ben nods, clearly already on board with Eddie's suggestion. He turns to address everyone there. "And you guys are all on board with this?"

"Yes", they all say in unison, without even thinking about it, making Eddie feel eternally grateful to have them as his friends and coworkers.

"Alright guys, go finish your lunch, and then quick brainstorming session in the conference room," Eddie says, and everyone groans as they head back. He turns to look at Richie, who gives him a silent thumbs up and a smile.

* * *

During one of the many conferences Eddie holds regarding the carnival, Richie accidentally reveals to him his biggest fear.

" _Clowns_?"

Richie visibly shudders at the word, making Eddie and Patty giggle. "Yeah, dude. They're unnecessarily creepy. Ever seen _Clownhouse_? Or fucking- fucking _Dead Silence?_ And don't even get me started on the Joker- _stop fucking laughing, Eds, I'm serious-"_

"Alright," Eddie manages between cackles, "alright, no fucking clowns in the carnival." He pauses. "Please don't tell me you're afraid of bumper cars or something, because I've got some bad news for you-"

"Fuck you," Richie tells Eddie, who's back at laughing at him, as he smacks his arm, Eddie smacking him back.

"Anyways," Eddie says, finally catching his breath, "we have to do some press about the carnival. It's been two weeks since we announced it, and awareness is still pretty low."

"We could do some radio interviews," Patty suggests. "Maybe some newspaper ads, too."

"We could call Joan Calamezzo," Audra says, "or Perd Hapley. Get some TV time."

"Yeah, Joan sounds good," Eddie decides.

"Who's Joan?" Richie asks.

"She's Derry' most famous TV host. She basically runs this town."

"Cool," Richie says, impressed. "Hey, I could do the radio interviews," he offers.

"You sure?", Eddie asks.

Richie shrugs. "Hell yeah. What could go wrong?"

Everything, as it turned out. _Everything_ could go wrong.

"Okay, in _my defence_ ," Eddie says as he tries to match his pace to Richie's frantic sprint down the busy street after storming out of the studio, "I didn't know he could be such an asshole. He shouldn't have cornered you about Monroe."

"I should have seen it coming," says Richie, not so much to Eddie as to himself, "why else would he be so happy to interview me? Of course he wasn't _actually_ interested in the carnival. What a fucking douchebag."

"No, Richie, it was me who let you go to that stupid interview," says Eddie as he struggles to catch his breath. "And, can you walk slower? I can't match your fucking pace, you walking beanstalk."

Richie shakes his head as he continues walking without slowing down. "Eddie, I told you, it's not your fault."

"It kinda feels like it," says Eddie, exasperated, which finally makes Richie slow down just a bit.

"I'm sorry," Richie says and raises his glasses to rub his eyes. "I shouldn't be taking it out on you. I'm just a fucking loser that made a mistake ten years ago that everyone still fucking remembers, apparently. Like, what kind of person would deliberately humiliate someone _on air_ about something they did when they were eighteen?"

Eddie scoffs. "That fucking guy, apparently." He looks up at Richie, who looks positively miserable. "Hey," he elbows him lightly, "at least we promoted the carnival."

Richie's frown turns into a grin, and he offers Eddie a high five. "Hell yeah, we did."

"Alright," says Eddie as they enter City Hall, "next up is our TV interview with Joan Calamezzo on Friday." He looks at Richie with concern. "Are you okay with that?"

"Of course I am, Eds," Richie reassures him. "Don't worry about me."

When the day of their TV interview comes, Eddie is glad he arrived at the studio before Richie. As soon as he steps foot inside, he is cornered by Joan. 

"Tell me about Richie Tozier," she demands.

"Uh," Eddie shrinks under her demanding gaze, "sure? He works for the state government, and he's here to give us advice on our budget-"

Joan shakes her head. "Come on, Kaspbrak. The radio show blew this story wide open. 'Trashmouth Tozier' bankrupts a town, and then comes to Derry to tell us how to spend our money?"

Eddie rolls his eyes. "There's no story here, Joan. He's just a dedicated civil servant who is doing whatever he can to make sure that this is the best damn carnival ever."

Joan hums, clearly not satisfied with his answer. "And, what exactly is the nature of your relationship with him?"

Eddie blue-screens for a second. "Our- it's not- it's strictly professional. Just friends."

"So are you colleagues or friends?"

"Both," Eddie shrieks, frantically looking for a way out of this uncomfortable conversation. "I'm sorry, I have to make a phone call, it's _really_ important, can't wait."

Not long after Eddie escapes Joan's talons -figuratively, but also kinda literally- Richie arrives at the studio. Eddie let's out a breath as he drags him inside. " _Finally_ , come on. We're up in five. Just remember, we're live, and on TV. Careful what you say."

Joan's crew then calls for them to go on set, and within a few minutes, they're on air.

"So," Joan says, "what can you two tell me about the carnival?"

"Well, it'll be on November 15th, and it's going to be amazing," Richie says. "Carnival rides, games, food, music. The whole shabang."

"Right, right," Joan says as she crosses her legs and leans forward. "I have some questions."

 _Oh boy,_ Eddie thinks.

"I did some research on you, Richie Tozier, and you're from Monroe, Ohio, right?"

Richie clenches his jaw and exhales deeply. "Yes, I am."

"Now, is it true that, when you were eighteen, you became the mayor, and then blew the whole city budget?"

Richie doesn't know why, but he loses his temper in _seconds. "_ Okay, you know what? I was a kid. A fucking _kid._ And when you... You end up getting out there... and there's a..."

"Seems like eighteen is pretty young for a mayor," Joan presses. "What were you, like, twelve?"

Eddie feels his blood boil hearing Joan humiliate Richie like that. He turns to look at Richie, who doesn't seem to be handling it very well. He thinks it's probably the first time he sees Richie so uncomfortable and awkward. It's painful to watch.

"Well... When... I- I guess... Can we just, sort of..."

Eddie's phone vibrates twice in his pocket. He takes it out discreetly, and sees two messages from Stan.

**Stan**

**5:12** Is this his first time talking to other people?

 **5:12** Because it sure looks like it.

Eddie rolls his eyes and pockets his phone. "Joan," he says, "how about we drop this subject and focus on the carnival instead? I mean, that's why we're here, isn't it?"

"Just a minute, Eddie, I have a couple more questions-"

"I guess I didn't make myself clear." Joan turns to look at Eddie, who's staring at her. "If you don't drop this now, we leave. And, if we leave, you will be left with no guests for the day. Is that what you want?"

Joan squints at Eddie, considering his threat. "Fine," she begrudgingly concedes. "Let's talk about this stupid carnival."

"Thank you," Eddie says. He turns to Richie, who shoots him a grateful smile, and he smiles back.

Back at City Hall, Ben experiences deja vu.

He is, once again, psyching himself up as he tries to call Beverly and invite her to dinner, this time at his place. Over the past four months they have gone out exactly nine times, but neither of those have been at each other's houses. Not that he has been counting them.

Except he totally has been counting them.

It was around their third time going out that he realised how beautiful Beverly is, inside and outside. How much he enjoyed hanging out with her. How much she made him laugh.

By the sixth time, he had a serious crush on her.

For the past month, Beverly is all he can think about. They text a lot, they call each other a lot, and Ben really doesn't want to get his hopes up, but he has just the faintest feeling that his feelings might actually be reciprocated.

He unlocks his phone, and taps Bev's contact to draft a message. He writes, then he deletes it, then he repeats the process for about fifteen times before he settles on the one he sends.

Not even a minute later, Beverly texts him back, accepting his invitation.

Ben is thankful the department is empty, because he _totally_ does a small celebratory dance.

After their second disastrous interview for the carnival, Richie is moping.

Realistically, he _knows_ a couple hiccups won't damage the carnival, but he really wants to see the project succeed as flawlessly as it possibly can. So far, all he has done for Eddie's project, is make a huge fucking mess.

When they get back at City Hall, and Eddie sees Richie head straight to his office without a word, he knows something is wrong. He follows Richie, and sees him toss his jacket on his office couch and then flop on said couch gracelessly, his head falling backwards, eyes shut.

"Rich," he says softly as he sits down next to him, "talk to me. What's wrong?"

Richie sighs deeply, rubbing his eyes without taking off his glasses. "I don't know, man. Maybe I should quit the project."

Eddie frowns. "What are you talking about?"

"Everything I do is a disaster, Eds. The interviews were a bust, everyone was more interested in my fucking failure than the carnival."

Eddie can't believe what he's hearing. He turns his body to face Richie, and takes his hand. "Richie, this project is as much yours as it is mine. It's _ours_. It's gonna be great. And I'm really glad you're here."

Richie smiles shyly, avoiding Eddie's eyes. "Thank you, spaghetti." His stomach feels abnormally tight and his heartbeat is getting faster and faster. Eddie's hand is warm and soft around his, and for a moment, it's all he can think about.

Eddie nudges Richie's shoulder with his own, taking him out of his thoughts. "So, you're not gonna quit on me, right asshole?"

Richie's body feels warm. He feels tingly and, frankly, a bit light headed. "Of course not, spagheds," Richie reassures him.

* * *

Three weeks before the carnival, Derry gets hit by the flu. The first few days are perfectly fine, and no one in the department gets sick, which is the last thing anyone wants, while being this close to the carnival.

Until, not even a week later, Eddie gets sick.

Him and Mike left early in the morning to recruit as many local businesses as they can to participate in the carnival, but around the fifth business, Eddie excuses himself and promptly throws up in the nearest toilet he can find. Mike wastes no time in getting him back to the department, and putting him in quarantine in his office, before he leaves again to finish their work.

His coworkers, including Stan, refuse to enter his office, they spray the whole floor with disinfectant, and Eddie is _pissed._ Not so much at them as to himself, and his immune system for betraying him. His body feels hot, his hands are clammy and he feels nauseous. He glances at his watch, and groans when he sees that, in fifteen minutes, he has to meet with Richie, and then go to the Chamber of Commerce with him.

While he's contemplating whether they should cancel the meeting or just postpone it, his body temperature just fucking plummets, and he feels chills all over his body. "Holy _shit,"_ he whispers as he wraps his arms around himself. "What the fuck."

Just as he puts on his coat to get some warmth, Richie enters his office. "Hey, are you leaving? I thought we had a meeting?"

"No, we do, I just feel a little chilly. Isn't it cold in here?", says Eddie, zipping up his coat and tucking his hands in his pockets.

Richie steps closer to Eddie and takes an examining look. "Are you okay? Your eyes are glassy."

"M'fine," Eddie mumbles.

"He's _not_ fine," Patty yells from her desk outside, "he's sick."

"I'm not _sick"_ , Eddie insists, a violent sneeze shaking his body seconds after his statement, followed by coughing that makes his throat burn.

Richie approaches Eddie and puts the back of his hand in his forehead to check his temperature. "Okay, you're burning. You should go home, get some rest."

Eddie shakes his head. "No, I can't go home. I have to get ready for the Chamber of Secrets."

"Commerce", Richie corrects him.

"If this meeting doesn't go perfectly, then the carnival is going to be over before it begins." He gives Richie a pleading look. "I can't go home."

That tight feeling in Richie's stomach is back, but he chooses to ignore it. Instead, he takes out his phone. "Alright then, let's go to the hospital. I'll call Bev."

Eddie grunts and rolls his eyes. "Fine. But only because we're going to see Bev. I love Bev. Bev is my best friend in the whole world." Getting up feels difficult, especially since his body decided to unexpectedly catch on fire again. "Shit, it's too fucking hot now", he whines and quickly unzips his coat.

"That's your fever, buddy", says Richie with a cackle as he leads him outside.

"Eddie you're dehydrated, and you have a fever. I'm admitting you."

Eddie shakes his head at Bev, who's waving the thermometer in front of his face. Unfortunately, his vision is too blurry for him to see the number on it. "Hey, if I was sick, could I do _this_?", he says, doing absolutely nothing but stare at the wall opposite him.

Richie is both confused and amused. "What are you doing?"

"Cartwheels."

Richie and Bev exchange a worried glance and look back at Eddie.

"Am I not doing them?", Eddie asks in a feverish haze.

Richie shakes his head, putting great effort in trying not to laugh. "Look, Eds, I've done presentations like this before, and Patty will be there with me. Your project is in good hands." He puts a comforting hand around Eddie's shoulder, and after a moment's hesitation, he plants a kiss on Eddie's head, right below his hairline. He quickly waves at Bev, and leaves.

Eddie receives a pointed stare from Bev, and he sighs. "It's not that I don't trust Richie, I just don't have faith in Richie." He does a long pause. "Also, I'm starting to forget who Richie is", he admits.

Beverly shakes her head. "That's not what I was thinking, but I'm going to let it slide because you're sick. Now, lay down."

"Bev, I need to go to the presentation," Eddie insists. "I have to make sure everything goes right."

"Honey, I know you want to do it yourself, but you have to stay here," Bev says as she hands him a hospital gown.

Eddie really wants to argue, but his brain refuses to cooperate. He wordlessly takes the gown and falls back onto the bed, letting out a small groan when his warm body hits the cool sheets.

After Beverly gets Eddie settled in his room, she grabs the small pile of charts she has been assigned with. While skimming through them, her eye catches a familiar name.

_Hanscom_?

She rushes to room 277 and finds Ben, laying on the bed in a hospital gown, his skin pale and his eyes bloodshot. "Ben?"

Ben lifts his head and gives Bev a goofy smile, making grabby hands at her. "Bevvy! I was _just_ about to call you. We may have to cancel our dinner reservation for tonight."

Beverly cackles. "You think?" she says as she enters the room and hangs Ben's chart at the bottom of his bed. "Why didn't you tell me you were sick?" she asks softly.

Ben shrugs. "Didn't want to worry you."

"You're too sweet, Ben," she says and runs a hand through his hair. "How are you feeling?"

"Honestly," Ben says, "I feel like crap. My brain is on _fire_."

"Well, you definitely have the flu," Bev tells him as she sits at the edge of his bed. "Is there anything you want me to do?"

Ben feels warm and tingly, but it's got nothing to do with the flu. "You can keep me company, if you're not busy."

Beverly gives him a warm smile. "Of course."

Richie hasn't even started doing the Chamber of Commerce presentation with Patty yet, and frankly, he is already _done._ He doesn't know how Eddie manages to keep it together when dealing with stuff like that. The conference room door is closed, and yet he can perfectly hear all the business owners in there arguing with each other.

They're going to eat him alive.

"Richie," Patty half-whispers, sensing his distress, "I can call Stan, if you want. You know, for support-"

"Nope," Richie shakes his head, "I can do this. I promised Eddie I would handle it."

"Suit yourself," Patty says and focuses back on her notes.

Richie skims through his notes as well. His phone dings in his pocket, but he pays no attention to it.

In hindsight, Beverly should have seen it coming.

She leaves Ben's room for, what, five minutes? Another one of her patients pressed his call button, and she told Ben she would be right back. When she does come back, she finds Ben waving at the door, a dopey grin on his face. "Ben? Who are you waving at?"

"I think... I had a vision," Ben tells her, his eyes glassy. "I saw Eddie come in my room, steal my flu medicine and tell me not to tell you he did that."

"What the hell," Beverly mutters as she takes out her phone to text Richie to inform him that Eddie has escaped the hospital, while rushing to Eddie's room. To nobody's surprise, it's empty. She then tries to call Eddie, but her call is sent to voicemail. "Damn it, Eddie."

Meanwhile, Eddie reaches City Hall. His brain is fuzzy from all the flu medicine he took, but he manages to get there in one piece. After much more time than it normally would've taken him, he finds the conference room where the Chamber of Commerce is being held. Outside of the room he sees Richie and Patty talking to each other.

Richie raises his head and his eyes go wide when he sees Eddie approach them, his skin pale and his eyes red and puffy. Even in this state, Richie has to admit Eddie still looks kind of beautiful. " _Eddie?_ What the fuck are you doing here?"

"Richard," Eddie greets him. "Patricia," he greets Patty.

"Eds, you shouldn't be here, you're sick," Richie says as he touches Eddie's forehead. "You still have a fever."

"I most certainly do not," Eddie says in a mock British accent as he takes the files from Richie's lap.

"Hey, _I_ do the accents and _you_ criticise them, not the opposite," Richie complains, and Patty pinches his arm. "Ouch! Okay, not the point, got it. Jeez."

"So," Eddie says and tries to get up, swaying dangerously, "shall we?" He opens the conference room door before Richie and Patty can answer, and he goes to the podium. He takes one look at the files in front of him, and for a moment thinks he grabbed the wrong ones. Since when do they write their files in _Arabic_?

 _No,_ he thinks, _we don't write them in Arabic, that's your fever. Focus, Eddie. You can do this, man._

He sees with the corner of his eye Richie looking at him worriedly. He clears his throat, and turns his full attention to the crowd.

"Every one of you, just by showing up here tonight, has already made history. In days past, the Derry Carnival was the cornerstone of Derry's small-business community, a weeklong showcase for everything from textiles to small farms. By our estimates, as many as 30,000 people might attend the festival, and the monetary value of that kind of direct customer-to-business exposure is, frankly, incalculable."

Richie is speechless. All he can do is stare at Eddie as he speaks, while thinking _damn, this guy is pretty fucking awesome._ He doesn't know how long he spends admiring Eddie, but before he knows it, his speech comes to an end.

"The time is now. The place is Derry. Let's make history."

Everyone in the room claps. Richie finds himself clapping, too.

"Thank you," Eddie says as the clapping subsidies. "Any questions?"

A man from the crowd raises his hand. "Yes, sir?" Eddie says.

"Are we going to get the same sales-tax incentives we used to?"

Eddie feels like his brain is on fire again. He feels dizzy, and grabs the edges of the podium to balance himself, wondering _why is he seeing double,_ and _why_ _did the ceiling and the floor switch places?_

Richie notices immediately and rushes to him, grabbing Eddie from his elbows to steady him. "That's a very good question, sir," Eddie says, words slightly slurred. "I'm going to counter with  
my own question, which is, why is half of your face all _swirly_?"

Richie muffles his laughter and pats Eddie's bicep as he leans towards the microphone. "Okay, unfortunately, Eddie has another very important meeting right now, so I'll be taking your questions." He motions for Patty to take Eddie, and takes his place on the poduim. He takes one last worrying look at Eddie, already thinking about visiting him at the hospital later, before turning his attention to the crowd.

Thirty minutes later, and after a very intense yelling session from Beverly, Eddie is back in his hospital room, tucked under his covers. He took a sleeping pill Bev gave him about fifteen minutes ago, to relieve his throbbing head, which means it should be kicking in any minute now. He tries to get more comfortable in his bed, when he hears someone knock on his door. He smiles when he sees Richie standing in the doorway, a Tupperware of soup in his hands. "Hey there, spaghetti."

Eddie rolls his eyes playfully. "Not my name, fuckface. You're lucky I'm too weak to smack you right now."

Richie gets in the room and leaves the Tupperware on Eddie's bedside table. He sits on the chair next to Eddie's bed. "I brought you some soup. Cooked it myself."

"Are you trying to poison me?" Eddie asks, too tired to sit up. "Knew you hated me."

"You got me," Richie says, playing along. "Figured this is my best chance, now that your immune system is all busted."

"Won't work, Bev has me on the good stuff."

"Bummer," Richie says with a grin.

"Thank you for the soup," Eddie says. "I can't really taste anything right now, but I appreciate it. How did the rest of the meeting go?"

"Well, you said you needed eighty total businesses to participate. Right?"

Eddie raises an eyebrow. "Yeah."

"We have one hundred and ten," Richie says, "and counting."

Eddie's jaw drops. "Richie! That's fucking _great,_ dude. You did a great job."

"I didn't do anything," Richie tells him, "that was all you. Your speech was incredible."

Eddie shrugs. "It was alright." He yawns, his eyes feeling heavier and heavier. "M'falling asleep," he says.

"Drugs?" Richie asks with a cackle.

"Yah," Eddie answers, already half asleep.

Richie grins at the, frankly, adorable site that is sleepy Eddie, and gets up. "Alright, I'll let you sleep. Take care, Eds," he says, and fixes his blankets before he leaves his room.

* * *

The last step on Eddie's long list of 'T _hings to Get Done for the Carnival if I Want to Keep my Job and not Disappoint my Friends and Coworkers'_ -okay maybe he needs to work on the title- is to get the local police to donate their security services for the carnival.

Which is why, a week and a half before the carnival, the Parks Department is throwing them a small feast with plenty of pizza and beer. Because, if there's anything police officers in Derry love, it's free pizza and beers.

"I'm thinking about thirty, maybe thirty five pizzas?" he tells his coworkers during their last meeting of the day. "We could do it at Shaw's. Most of our police officers hang out in that bar anyways."

"Sounds good," Mike says. "Make sure they have sausage, onions and peppers. Best toppings out there."

"And no calzones," Richie adds, getting weird looks from everyone. "What? They're like pizza that's just fucking hard to eat."

"Alright then, no calzones," Eddie writes down and checks his notes. "I think we're good. I'll see you guys tomorrow" he says and gets up, taking his coat from the hanger.

Richie follows him outside, catching him just before he reaches the elevator. "Hey, you're leaving?"

Eddie turns to look at Richie as he presses the button to call the elevator. "Yeah, I have this thing with a friend. Did we have anything planned for today?"

Richie feels that familiar knot in his stomach. He shakes his head. "Nope. It's all good, spaghetti. Have fun", he says with a smile and vanishes back in the conference room.

Mike starts talking about various tasks they have to finish for the carnival, but Richie's mind is elsewhere. He keeps thinking about Eddie, wondering where he's going.

 _Maybe he has a date,_ he thinks, and his heart clenches. _A date. With some guy. Some guy that wo_ _uld probably take him for a picnic. Or maybe he would take him to his favorite restaurant, the one him and Eddie went to a few months ago. And Eddie would swoon at that guy's romantic gestures, like the secret sap that he is. But will that guy know about Eddie's allergies? Or the fact that he doesn't like anything strawberry flavoured? Will that guy appreciate Eddie's humor? What if he's an asshole who thinks that parks aren't fucking awesome?_

Richie's not even sure that any of this is going to happen. And yet, there's only two thoughts going through his mind.

_That guy isn't me. I wish I was that guy._

And then a third thought pops up.

_Fuck,_ he realises, eyes going wide.

"Richie?" Mike nudges him with his hand before he can finish his thought, "you okay, man? You look like you saw a ghost."

"Uh," Richie falters, taken aback by his recent revelation. He clears his throat and sits up on his chair. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. What were you saying?"

"Someone has to take care of the cotton candy machines. Can you do it?"

"Yeah, sure," he absentmindedly says.

He is so screwed.

Two days later, around 8 in the evening, the entire Parks Department has gathered at Shaw's. Eddie is the last one of them to arrive, and is pleased to find everything going as smoothly as possible.

Richie, on the other hand, is suffering.

Partly because of his recent realisation about his feelings for Eddie, and partly because Eddie is wearing probably the hottest outfit he has ever seen him wear. A pair of fitting trousers that hug his body in all the right places, a tight, off-white shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows, and black suspenders. Fucking _suspenders._ Richie is pretty sure he stopped breathing for a few seconds when Eddie took of his blazer.

He follows Eddie to their booth, in the back of the bar. "Hey, I hate to nag, but shouldn't we be talking strategy? Like _when_ to ask the chief for this huge critical favor?

Eddie absentmindedly nods as he tosses his blazer on the seat. "I'll go talk to him in about ten minutes. It's better to let him enjoy his beer first."

"Wait, you're gonna do it by yourself?" Richie asks.

"Yeah. It's just, I know the chief a little better than you, and honestly I don't think I can handle another person cornering you about Monroe. You seemed pretty uncomfortable the other day."

"I- I was, yeah," Richie falters, "but I thought we were gonna do this together."

"We _are_ doing this together, Rich," Eddie reassures him, putting a hand on his arm. "You've already done so much. But I got this."

"Alright," Richie concedes. Damn Eddie and his thoughtfulness. "Alright. I'm here if you need me."

"I know," says Eddie as he gets up. "I'll get you a beer, then I'm off to talk to Trumple."

Richie watches Eddie as he talks to the bartender, who laughs at something Eddie says. Richie's stomach sinks when he sees the bartender wink at Eddie, who grins at him and brings the two beers to their booth.

_What the hell,_ he thinks.

He forces a smile as he accepts the beer from Eddie, who doesn't sit down. "Alright, I'm gonna go talk to the chief. Don't sit here all night, have some fun."

Richie's smile drops as soon as he's out of Eddie's sight. He leans back and tries to not stare at the chief's booth, where Eddie has just sat and has started talking to the police officers.

Then, Eddie laughs at something the chief said, and _then_ the chief grabs Eddie's forearm as they laugh together, which has Richie seeing red.

He shakes his head, as if that would get rid of his thoughts. _Get it together, Tozier. What the fuck is wrong with you._

He tries to not let it bother him, but it _does_. It bothers him a lot. The sound of Eddie's roaring laughter travels to his booth, and his stomach sinks as he thinks that _he_ wants to be the one to make Eddie laugh like that, not some tall, surprisingly handsome, well-built, muscular guy, who happens to be the police chief.

Someone from behind him smacks him on the head, interrupting his train of thought, and passes by him to sit opposite him in the booth. He rubs the aching spot on the back of his head and sees it was Stan who smacked him, now sipping his beer, watching him. "What did I do now, Stan?"

"You're staring," Stan says.

Richie's face gets flustered, and he silently thanks the bar's low lighting for not betraying him. "Is that a crime? If it is, you gotta tell me. Wouldn't want to commit one while in a bar full of cops."

"Don't sass me," Stan says. "Why are you sitting here by yourself?"

"Oh, you know," Richie says, leaning back, doing his best not to look at Eddie. "I'm just chilling. Taking the night off."

Stan hums. "So you haven't been staring at Eddie for the past fifteen minutes."

 _Damn, has it already been fifteen minutes?_ is what Richie thinks. "Nope," he says instead.

Stan rolls his eyes. "Richie, come on. I've seen the way you look at him."

"Enlighten me, Stanley, how _do_ I look at him?"

"The same way I look at Patty."

Richie's face goes pale. "You don't know what you're talking about, Stan."

Eventually, he gives in and turns his attention back to Eddie, still sitting at the chief's booth. Although now, it's just the two of them, Eddie sitting opposite the chief. He quickly averts his gaze. "Eddie seems pretty comfortable around the chief," he says before he can catch himself.

Stan raises an eyebrow. "Why do you care?"

"I _don't_ ," Richie insists, "I'm just curious."

"They're old friends. They went to university together." He squints his eyes, analysing Richie's expression, then adds "I'm pretty sure they had a thing back then. You know, before Myra."

Richie's stomach sinks. His cheeks heat up and he fidgets with his napkin, avoiding Stan's eyes, glimpsing at Eddie instead. "They did?"

 _Bingo,_ Stan thinks. "I think so," he says. "Eddie never told me anything, but I'm pretty sure something was going on between them."

"And.." Richie starts as he tears the napkin to shreds, "do you- you think maybe-"

"If there's something going on between them now?" Stan finishes for him.

Richie slowly nods.

Stan simply smirks. "I doubt it. The chief's engaged." He revels at Richie's relieved expression. "I _knew_ it."

Richie tries to look innocent as he grabs a few chips from the bowl. "Knew what?"

Stan leans backwards and folds his arms across his chest, a smug grin on his face. "You like Eddie."

Richie groans and drops his head on his folded arms. "Okay, _fine,_ damn it. You're right. I like Eddie. Happy?

"Very," Stan says. His expression softens when he sees Richie's miserable look. "Hey," he says, reaching for Richie's arm, "it's okay."

"No, it's not _,_ " Richie insists, ready to explain exactly why this is not okay in the slightest, but stops when he sees Eddie rush towards their booth. "Everything alright?"

Eddie shakes his head as he reaches for his blazer. "Something came up at City Hall. I have to go. Richie, can you cover for me? I still haven't asked the chief the favor."

Richie nods. "Of course, Eds. You can count on me."

Eddie let's out a breath of relief. "Great. Thanks, Rich. You're the best."

Richie gives him a smile as he disappears into the crowd. He downs the rest of his beer, gives Stan a two-fingered salute, and goes to chief Trumple's booth. "Hello, sir. My name is Richie Tozier, state auditor. Eddie had to leave for a City Hall emergency, which means I get to be the lucky bastard who asks you for a huge favor."

"Go on," Trumple says, intrigued.

"We need the Derry police force to volunteer as security during the upcoming carnival," Richie says. "Now, the city won't let us throw the carnival unless-"

The chief interrupts him by raising his palm. "Say no more."

"What-"

"Just send me a schedule of how many officers you need and when."

"Really? Just like that?"

Trumple nods. "Eddie Kaspbrak gets as many favors as he needs."

Richie feels hot, scorching jealousy run through his veins. He clears his throat and tries to maintain his composure. "Can I ask why?"

"Because he's the kind of a person who uses favors to help other people."

Richie's expression softens, because the chief is absolutely right.

"Also," the chief adds with a smirk, "we were roommates in uni. I can't even begin to count the amount of times I begged him to let me and my girlfriend have the apartment for the night. This guy had the patience of a _saint."_

Richie's eyebrows shoot up. "Uh, your girlfriend? So you- it wasn't... you and-"

"What are you talking about?" Trumple asks.

"Nothing!" Richie rushes out. _Stan, you sneaky motherfucker,_ he thinks.

Trumple shrugs. "Anyways, you got your favor, now go. I wanna enjoy my beer in peace."

"Sir yes sir," Richie says and gets up. "Thank you, again."

"No problem," Trumple says.

When Eddie is done with the emergency, it's past midnight. On his way out of City Hall, he sees a familiar car parked outside. _Richie_?

"There you are," a voice says from behind him. Sure enough, Eddie turns to find Richie walking towards him. "I went through the entire fucking building _twice_ before I could find you."

Eddie cackles. "Sorry, I was in the basement."

"City Hall has a basement?"

"It does, and it's creepy as fuck."

"Cool," Richie marvels as they walk to the parking lot. "I talked to Trumple. They'll give us the hours  
we need, no problemo."

Eddie turns to look at Richie with a grateful smile. "Thanks, Rich. I owe you." He thinks for a second before he adds "hey, you hungry? With all this mess I didn't get a chance to eat."

"Hell yeah, I'm starving," Richie says. "Wanna go to this really cool diner I saw the other day? I think it's called JJ's. I heard it makes the best waffles in Derry."

And Eddie can't help the soft smile that forms on his lips. "Yeah, let's go to JJ's."

* * *

It's one day before the Carnival, and Eddie is tense. Right now, he's going through all his lists with Richie, while barely functioning on three hours of sleep, and two cups of black coffee.

"We haven't forgotten anything, Eds, just relax," Richie tells him as he folds the paper in half.

Eddie shakes his head repeatedly. "Can't do that, Rich."

"Eddie," Audra says from the doorway, "Ken is here."

"Oh fuck," Eddie mutters as he starts pacing up and down, panic settling deep inside him. "Fuck fuck fucking _shit-"_

Confused, and slightly worried, Richie gently grabs Eddie shoulders and turns him around. "Hey, what's wrong? Who's Ken?"

"Ken Hotate. He is the tribal leader of the Shokopiwah," Eddie says, relaxing under Richie's hands. A moment later, a tall, dark-skinned man enters Eddie's office, wearing a grey suit, his long hair tied in a ponytail at the bottom of his head. "Hello, Eddie," he says in a surprisingly friendly voice.

"Hi, Ken. Have a seat." Eddie sits down as well, while Richie opts for standing next to Eddie's chair. "Ken, I know why you're here. And just let me say that we really tried."

Ken shakes his head. "I'm sorry, Eddie, but this is a big one. I'm gonna need to formally ask you to move the carnival."

"Wait, _what_?" Richie asks, gaze shifting between Eddie and Ken. "Anybody care to explain why the hell we need to move the carnival?"

"The carnival is on the site of the battle of Wells," Eddie explains.

"And this glorious moment of my ancestors will be commemorated with cotton candy and fried dough stands," Ken says.

"Ken, I understand," Eddie says, "but it's the only place in town that's big enough to house the carnival rides. We put up a memorial plaque, and we have a Shokopiwah exhibit in the history tent."

"I know, but this is sacred burial ground," Ken says. "And I just hope that the souls of my ancestors don't put... a _curse_ on this carnival."

Eddie takes a sharp breath. " _No."_

Richie raises an eyebrow. Eddie gulps and slowly turns to look at Richie. "There's, uh, there's one thing that the people of Derry are terrified of. _Curses."_

Richie scoffs. "Seriously? You guys are scared of curses?" His smirk quickly turns into a frown when he sees Ken's serious expression and Eddie's wide eyes. _Fuck,_ he thinks.

After Ken leaves, Richie and Eddie leave for another interview with Joan, this time on the carnival site, amongst the rides. Stan, Bill and Audra go with them, to deal with some last minute preparations. Before Joan arrives, Eddie gathers everyone behind a rusty truck.

"Guys, everything needs to be perfect. Joan is always looking for a scandal. If she finds out about the curse-"

"Don't worry, spaghetti, everything is under control," Richie says. "Plus, somebody, I don't want to say who, but it was totally me, got the candy factory to donate another fifteen cotton candy machines."

"Holy shit that's great, Rich!" Eddie says and offers Richie a high five. "Take _that_ , curse."

Richie cackles and hip bumps Eddie. "Hell yeah, take that, curse."

Stan rolls his eyes. "Eugh, get a room."

"So," says Eddie, "I just want you guys to know that you're all amazing people, and I really want you to have fun tomorrow. And not focus on the fact that if one thing goes wrong, we're all gonna lose our jobs."

"That's not very inspiring," Audra says.

Eddie ignores her. "Okay, let's go get 'em."

About fifteen minutes later, Joan and her crew arrive at the site. "Hello, Eddie."

"Hello, Joan."

"Looks like a very impressive carnival," Joan says, looking around. "But we'll see."

"We sure will," Eddie replies, annoyed. "You remember Richie," he points at him.

Joan hums. "Yeah, I made you cry on my show."

"I didn't _cry,"_ Richie tries, but Joan's attention is on Eddie. "Let's get this over with," she says.

"Right," Eddie says and walks further into the site. "Now the festival is spread throughout the town. But the centerpiece is the carnival. And over here," he points to his left, "is Maine's largest corn maze." He takes a right turn. "Over here we have our beautiful ferris wheel."

"Ah, beautiful," Joan agrees, "but deadly." Eddie rolls his eyes. "When was the last time this giant wheel of death was inspected?"

"Actually, twice in the last week," Richie says, "and everything is 100% up to code."

Joan hums again, and walks further into the carnival.

On the other side of the carnival site, Bill is struggling. A lot. Him and Audra have been assigned with testing various rides, and for the past fifteen minutes he has been trying to pop a bunch of balloons with a dart gun, and failing gloriously. Audra, who's watching him, is very much enjoying watching Bill struggle.

"God, I swear, it's almost like they don't want you to win."

Audra snickers. "Well, you'd better practice. You gotta win me a Teddy bear."

"I'm gonna win you a million Teddy bears," Bill says.

"Well, I want a billion Teddy bears," Audra jokes.

"Well," Bill says, pretending to think it over, "that's a little unrealistic."

"This is fun," Audra says as she laughs. "I gotta say, I really enjoy hanging out with you, Bill."

"Yeah?" Bill tentatively asks. "We could, uh, hang out more. You know? How about we go watch a movie this week?"

Audra beams at him. "I'd love that."

"Awesome," Bill tells her, and turns his attention back to the game, determined to win Audra the teddy bear.

He wins it in one shot.

The interview with Joan continues for about fifteen minutes before she gets bored of asking about the carnival. She turns to Eddie. "What about your friend Richie, here? We all know his story, one of failure. Remind us of that failure."

Eddie briefly contemplates whether to punch her in the face, or shoot her with a dart gun. But Richie, surprisingly calm, answers for himself. "Well, you know, when I was an eighteen-year-old mayor, I made my town go bankrupt. I was also a part-time comedian five years ago. I don't fucking know why nobody ever brings _that_ up."

"Yeah yeah, nobody cares, that's why," Joan says with a dismissive hand gesture. "After your Monroe disaster, now you're involved with this. Do I smell another disaster, hopefully?"

Richie rolls his eyes. "Look, Joan, this carnival, thanks to the tireless efforts of Eddie Kaspbrak, is going to bring people nothing but happiness. Not even I could screw that up."

Joan stares at him. "Whatever," she says and motions for her cameraman to follow her for her final words. Richie and Eddie anxiously wait for her verdict.

" _The carnival starts at 9 AM tomorrow morning, and as far as this reporter is concerned, it's well worth your time. Come on down, everyone. It's gonna be sweet."_

Both Richie and Eddie let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Joan," Eddie tells her.

"It pains me to say this, but great job here, Kaspbrak," she says as she picks up the microphone cord.

Richie leans to his left to whisper in Eddie's ear. "That went well."

"Yeah," Eddie whispers back. "Take _that,_ curse."

"What?" Joan says, stopping mid-detangling the cord. "What was that about a curse?"

"Nothing!" Eddie hurriedly says, eyes wide.

"Curse?" her cameraman repeats worriedly.

"Nope, you guys misheard. I meant-"

"Eddie!" Stan yells as he gets closer to them. "We have a problem. The power generator is gone."

Joan motions for her cameraman to set his camera up again. "Hurry up, Steve, we've got a new intro to do." She turns to Eddie and points a manicured finger at him. " _Gotcha."_

"What do we do?" Eddie asks Richie as he paces up and down the grass field. "Now all the vendors  
are gonna bail, and the ticket sales are gonna go down."

"Wait, I'm sorry," Richie says, "but do people in this town really believe in curses?"

Eddie stops his pacing to look at Richie. "Oh, no. No. We all just behave rationally and believe we are all in charge of our own destinies," he tells him, sarcasm dripping from his words. His phone buzzes in his pocket, and he takes it out. A message from Beverly pops up.

**Bev**

**11:35** Ken is on TV, what the hell happened?

Eddie feels light headed. He motions for Richie to follow him to the closest TV stand and, sure enough, Ken is on Perd Hapley, talking about the carnival.

"- _the fact is, this carnival is being held on top of_  
 _an ancient Shokopiwah burial site. Much like the house in the movie, Poltergeist. I spoke to Eddie Kaspbrak, of the Parks Department, about moving the carnival, and he refused-"_

Richie turns the TV off before they can hear anything else. He turns to Eddie, who looks ready to collapse, and gently grabs his shoulders. "Hey. I'll deal with Joan, you deal with Perd. Alright?" he softly asks.

Eddie nods. He looks up at Richie, and leans forward, giving Richie a hug. "Thank you, Rich."

Richie's heart flips in his chest. He wraps his arms around Eddie's back and squeezes as hard as he can, pressing a kiss on the top of Eddie's head. "It's gonna be okay, spaghetti. I promise."

"We're extremely confident that there's no curse. And everyone's gonna have a great time tomorrow," Richie tells Joan as her cameraman points his camera at him. "Okay?"

Joan shakes her head. "Wow, first Monroe, now this. Bad luck really follows you around, huh?"

Richie rolls his eyes and looks back at the camera. "Okay, I'd like to start by addressing some of the false rumors about the festival. First of all, we have plenty of food. There's no food shortage. And, I can't believe I'm even saying this, but there aren't dozens of escaped convicts meandering around the carnival."

"Fine," Joan says. "My crew and I are going to stick around, see if we can find any other disaster waiting to happen."

Joan leaves, but her words stay with Richie. And, he'd be lying if he said they didn't sting a little. He doesn't believe in bad luck, but the past month is more than enough proof that maybe it actually exists. _He_ is the disaster waiting to happen.

He gets in his car, and drives towards the studio.

"Eddie, how big of a disaster will this be, on a scale of 9 to 10?" Perd Hapley asks during his show.

Eddie rolls his eyes. "It will _not_ be a disaster. It will be a success. And I want to let everyone know that, in an attempt to be sensitive to our Shokopiwah friends, we have moved the shooting gallery, per their request."

"Will that be enough to lift the curse?"

"Perd, we both know there's no such thing as a curse." Eddies phone dings in his pocket, with a message from Richie.

**Richie**

**12:30** we need to talk, I'm outside the studio

A minute later, they cut to the ads, and Eddie rushes outside to meet Richie. He immediately notices Richie's sorrowful expression, and his stomach gets tied in knots. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"I'm gonna go," Richie simply says.

Eddie stares at Richie, dumbfounded. "What?"

"I think I'm like, fucking jinxed or something."

"What are you talking about?"

"Look, you were totally fine until I got involved. So I feel like I should probably just go, okay? I'll just, go to fucking Bangor for a while, maybe even Augusta. Whatever it takes to not fuck your project up completely. If I haven't already done that. I'm really sorry, Eds," Richie says and turns to leave. Before he can go far, Eddie grabs his wrist and turns him around.

"No."

Richie tries to release himself from Eddie's grip, but gives up when he sees the sadness in Eddie's big eyes.

"Please don't," Eddie says, voice thick. "I really need you here. These past two months you've been nothing but helpful, Rich. You've contributed so fucking much to this festival, you gave me so much help and support." He sighs, releasing Richie's wrist. "Everything's going to shit today. But it's not your fault. It's nobody's fault. I really need you with me. I can't do this alone."

Richie's vision goes slightly blurry from the tears that threaten to fall. "Alright," he says, sniffing his nose. "Alright. You're right. I'm not leaving. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Eddie says, dragging Richie with him inside the studio. "Time to think about how we can fix the generator problem."

"Alright, where can we find one in, like, I don't know, now?" Richie asks as they get inside.

Eddie sighs. "There's only one place in town  
that has a generator that size." He gives Richie a miserable look.

Richie immediately understands. "Oh, you've gotta be fucking kidding me."

"So," Ken says, a smug smirk on his face as he leads Eddie and Richie to his office, "you need to borrow a generator."

"Ken, I'm coming to you on my knees," Eddie says, elbowing Richie who was no doubt about to make an innuendo. "I'm begging for your help. I'm prepared to put the Shokopiwah history exhibit inside the carnival grounds. Right past the entrance turnstile. so that you have to look at it before you start having fun," he proposes.

Ken brings a hand to his chin. "Now that's interesting."

"I'm just trying to do something good for this town," Eddie pleads. "And I'm trying to save my friends' jobs. Can you help me out here?"

Richie thinks they're doomed. Their chances of getting that generator are slim to none, and they both know it.

But then, Ken smiles. "A native American tribe making a deal with the government. Heh! What could go wrong?" he cackles. "You can have the generator, Eddie. And I issue a statement saying that the curse has been lifted."

Eddie let's out a breath. "Thank you, Ken."

The festival starts the following morning at nine, just as they had planned. Even before nine, people had already gathered outside the gates, eager to see the rides, to explore the stands and to get lost in the corn maze.

"I'm glad you didn't leave," Eddie tells Richie as they stand on a small hill that oversees the carnival site. "Wouldn't have been the same without you."

Richie turns to look at Eddie as he stares at the carnival ahead of them, eyes filled with pride. The faint November sun shines on Eddie's face, bringing out his freckles even more, making his big brown eyes a lovely honey shade, his skin smooth and soft.

Richie wants to kiss him.

"Me too," he says instead, turning to admire the carnival as well. "Me too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kind of an insane chapter, plot wise, but like I said I had tons of fun writing this
> 
> p.s. I wanted to add Li'l Sebastian to this chapter SO BADLY but it would be too out of place, so I settled for a couple more basic Pawnee characters, like Joan and Perd. there are a couple more Pawnee Easter eggs in this chapter though, so lemme know if you figured them out ;)
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter, kudos and comments are appreciated xx


End file.
